Follow Your Heart
by branson101
Summary: Bella lost everything in an instant Edward lives to please his family. A chance meeting bring them together. Follow these two as they follow their hearts and fulfills their dreams. A really fluffy love story with very little angst.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own the plot. S. Meyers owns the character names. The US Government owns the locations. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter One

"_What Do YOU want_?"

EPOV 

I love my family. I really do. I just wish that sometimes….oh well. It doesn't pay to daydream about a life I will never have. At least, that is what my parents always tell me. I need to live in the real world and focus on my responsibilities. You don't always get to do what you want you want, you have to do what you have to do and most of all make your mother happy and your father proud of you. So, here I am sitting in a hotel bar alone at 2AM the night before my wedding.

My father and brothers had fallen asleep awhile ago so I came down to get a drink and clear my head. I don't love her. I know that. She doesn't love me. I know that too. But my mom loves her and thinks she would be a good wife for me and my future as a surgeon. I have tried to reason with my mother about the fact that I don't love her, but she just gets tears in her eyes and goes on and on about how she promised Tanya's mother on her deathbed that she would take care of her daughter. That is why I am marrying her tomorrow. I never even told my mother about Tanya habit of cheating on me. I have caught her twice, my brother and sister, Emmett and Alice, have each caught her once. They know I don't want to do this tomorrow, but I have made them promise to keep their mouths shut. It's my problem, not theirs.

I sigh and look over to the end of the bar. There is a girl there that looks like she about my age, which is 3 years too young to be in a bar at all, especially at this time of night. She looks over at me, me and winks. And I blush. She is beautiful, with long brown hair. I can't see her eyes as she is too far away. She is talking to someone on the phone and laughing. She has an amazing laugh. I hate when Tanya laughs. She sounds like a sick hyena.

I sighed again and ran my fingers through my hair closing my eyes. I feel her presence before I even open my eyes and there she is sitting next to me.

"Hey there, I'm Bella."

"I'm Edward."

"I'm a good listener if you want to talk. It's just that you looked awfully sad over here and you're alone in a hotel bar at 2AM on, I guess it's a Saturday morning now."

"You're here alone too." I reminded her and she just rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes, but I don't have a despondent, borderline suicidal look on my face."

"Don't worry about me, I'll live. I just have to face my responsibilities head on tomorrow."

"What responsibilities are those?"

"I have to get married tomorrow."

"You _have_ to? Not you want to? Is she pregnant?"

"No, she's not. I just have to marry her." Then I launched into the whole sordid story of how I basically live to please my parents and how happy they are with me marrying Tanya and going off to Dartmouth in the fall to become a surgeon like my father."

"Wow." She said when I was done. "You must really love your parents to go to such lengths to please them."

"Yes, I do. So why are you here alone tonight?"

"I am pleasing my parents myself actually. They were killed by a drunk driver a year ago so I am taking time before I go to college to do the only two things they ever asked of me."

"And what is that?"

"To follow my heart and see the world."

"How far around the world are you planning to go?"  
"All the way, baby. I am starting with the US obviously. I bought a Ducati and am going to road trip to the most touristy and weird locations in the US. Like seeing the world's largest frying pan or rubber band ball, you know, things like that. Then I am going to board a plane head to Europe, Asia everywhere."

"That's going to be expensive."  
"Eh, I can afford it. So, where are taking Tanya for your honeymoon?"

"Paris and Milan so that she can shop."

"Edward, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes."

"Obviously your head is telling to marry the girl and go off to Dartmouth. But what does your heart tell you to do? What does Edward dream of doing?"

"I don't even know anymore. There are so many things that I would love to do, that I used dream of doing. I have always been somewhat of a dreamer. That is why my parents insist on me doing these things. To help me stay grounded in reality."

"Ok. It's late and I need to go to bed. I am leaving early in the morning. But let me leave you with this parting thought. Life is short. My parents found that out the hard way. They were 37 when they died. That is why I am honoring their wishes and taking this trip. I am following my heart. Now, the real question is, Edward, are you willing to follow your heart instead of your head? Are you willing to follow dreams and let yourself be happy? Good night, Edward."

"Good night Bella."

After I watched her get up and leave the bar I looked down at my watch and realized that it was 3AM. I looked at the napkin that Bella had been doodling on while we were talking and noticed that she wrote down her hotel room. I got up and left the bar and started walking. I barely noticed that I was leaving the hotel itself and started walking around Beverly Hills. I was really thinking about everything that Bella had said to me. I had gotten maybe four blocks from the hotel when I turned around and started heading back. I knew what I had to do. I knew what I needed to do. I got onto the elevator with my resolve in place.

She had a smug look on her face when she answered the door.

"I want to follow my heart. So where are we going to first?"

Bella leaped at me and I swear I couldn't help myself when I leaned down and kissed her. It was more passionate and amazing than anytime that I had kissed Tanya. Part of my brain was already saying Tanya? Tanya who?

"Your mother is going to be angry with you."

"Yes, she will and so will my dad. They will just have to get over it. You're right. Life is short and I want to make the most out of my life and be happy."

"Edward, I want you to come with me, but I also have no family left to worry about and to worry about me. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure I want to come with you." I said with a smirk and being bold enough to grab her ass.

"Edward", she chided. "That wasn't the cuming that I was referring to, but something I do think we should explore quite thoroughly."

"I know my family is going to think that I have lost my mind and worry about me. But I am going to leave them a note and promise to contact them from time to time. So, you never said, where are we going first?"

"First, we go to bed. Then at 7 we are getting up and driving to San Diego."

"And what is in San Diego that you want to see?"  
"The zoo,' she said with an innocent look on her face and I couldn't help but laugh as I kissed her again and led her to the bed. I had never had dated anyone but Tanya let alone had sex with anyone else. But, I wanted to be with Bella. I think I knew that the moment I first saw her at the bar. We stayed in bed together for the next couple hours "thoroughly exploring" each other. It was the most incredible, amazing experience of my life. Soon it was time to get up and get dressed.

I sat down to write the letter to my family while Bella showered. They were going to be pissed and I am sure that they weren't going to be pleased with Bella for leading me astray as it was, but I was hoping that with time they would forgive me and realize that my happiness was just as important as theirs was.

This was not an easy letter to write. I knew that I was breaking my mother's heart by running away. I started it several times unsure who to actually address it. I finally settled on "Dear Beloved Family:"

After Bella was dressed she looked at me, "Oh shit! What are you going to do about clothes?"

"I thought we'd go shopping when we get to San Diego. We better go. If I am going to completely be an irresponsible teenager and runaway in the middle of the night I need to tape this to their door and be gone before they wake up."

"Let's go, then." And while I went to leave the note she went to get the valet to bring around the getaway vehicle. She was waiting for me on the most amazing bike that I had ever seen. It was sporty and fun looking, not like Emmett and Rose's Harleys.

"Sorry, I only have one helmet. Looks like we are going to have to stop and pick one up before we hit the road. Are you ready?"

I mounted the bike behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, "Yes, I am."

The bike roared to life as we took off into a new life together.

A/N

I was going to add getting to San Diego in this chapter, but changed my mind. This story is going to be in many POV's. Most sex scenes will be a fade to black thing. I have never written one before and I am nervous about doing it. There is one that I definitely want to write out though. I also believe that adding detailed sex scenes too much takes away from the plot. I am listing this as mature because I have a foul mouth and it will end up working its way into this, I am sure of it. This is going to be a fluffy story with little to no angst. I wanted something to counteract all the heart fail going around in my favorite stories. I do not have a beta and if anyone wanted to volunteer I would appreciate it. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"What the Hell!"

Carlisle's POV

I woke up in the hotel suite that I was staying in with my sons quite early on Saturday morning with a mixture of joy and trepidation. My youngest son was getting married today. I knew he didn't love her, anyone could see that. He was only doing it to please his mother. But she would be good for him and was good to him, and would take care of him. I never could deny his mother anything either, especially when she started crying. Which is what she often did when the subject of Edward and Tanya came up, them being together meant so much to her and her best friend. Edward didn't seem to be completely unhappy with the situation so I let it go. He just needed someone to keep him on the right path and Tanya would. She was a sweet girl who loved Edward very much and only wanted the best for him. If her mother, Carmen, was still alive, she would be so proud of what a wonderful lady her daughter turned out to be.

I crawled out of bed and went to find the boys. It was 7:30 and we had a 9 o'clock tee time. I went to Edward's room first and found it empty. It only took a few minutes of searching the suite and waking everyone to find that he wasn't there. Emmett suggested that maybe he went for a swim as Edward loved to do laps to clear his head. When I tried to call his phone I was surprised to hear it ringing on the other side of the door. Upon opening the door I found an envelope taped to the door and Edward's cell phone on the floor. I picked them both up and retreated back into the room opening the letter as I went.

_Dear Beloved family:_

_ I am sorry to hurt you this way but I just can't do it. I cannot marry a woman that I do not love and who I know does not love me and does not even care enough to be faithful to me before we are even married. I would have liked it if I felt that I could do the mature thing and tell you this in person, but I feel that no one will listen to me. No one has ever asked me what I wanted, I have always been instructed. Yes I made a horrible mistake all those years ago. But I was only 10; I think I have paid enough for my choices that day. I didn't even get the choice or option to propose, Mom wrapped the ring and put it under the tree without telling me about it. _

_ I know Mom will be upset with me and hurt and I am sorry about that but I have decided to follow my heart and do what makes me happy. So, I am leaving to travel the world with a wonderful woman I met, her name is Bella and she is amazing. I know it seems rash to run off with someone I just met but I really don't care. I will keep in touch somehow every so often letting you know that we are fine and when I get back I will decide what I want to do with my future._

_ I love you all and hope that you will forgive me someday._

_ Edward._

I stood there looking at the paper for a moment before I looked up at everyone else in the room, "He's gone. He ran off with some girl named Bella in the middle of the night." I was just astounded that he would do that. It only took half a second before my son and future son in law started cheering and exclaiming how happy they were that Edward finally pulled his head out of his ass and put a stop this.

"Did you two know that she was cheating on him with someone?"

"Not with someone dad, but with someone's, plural. The girl is a whore who can't keep her pants on. I should know. I caught her." Emmett spoke up. Wow. Just Wow!  
"Why didn't anyone ever say something?" I was outraged that something this important wasn't brought to our attention.

"Edward asked us not to. Esme would never let anyone say anything negative about Princess Tanya and Edward felt it just wouldn't do any good trying. She really has Esme snowed into believing that she is so amazing, but she's nothing but a gold digger." Yeah, apparently my wife isn't the only one that fell for her little act.

"You knew too, Jasper?"  
"Yes, Alice has caught her too."

"Damn it. So, now I get to tell my wife the wedding is off. But who is going to tell the bride?"  
"Dad, I think the question is going to be who _gets_ to tell the bride because I think there may be a cat fight between Alice and Rose over who gets to do the honors!"

I just grimaced and pulled out my phone to call my wife asking her to come to our suite with Alice and Rose. I told her what was going on and let her read the letter for herself. She looked up at us with tears in eyes.

"Is this true? She had an affair?"

"Yes, mom, more than once actually, there were four men that we know of, I believe that there are more that we don't know of" Alice spoke up. At that point my wife started to turn red and I thought I saw a little smoke coming out of her ears. I swear I have never seen my wife this angry. EVER.

Esme POV

That little bitch. I trusted her. I loved her like a daughter. I thought she loved my son and I pushed him to marry her. I never would have done that if I thought she was hurting him like that. I always rationalized my pushing for this marriage as many cultures do arranged marriages and the couples are usually happy. And at least Edward and Tanya had had the advantage of knowing each other their entire lives. I thought that I chose the right person for him. I thought that I was doing what was best for him. He was a dreamer and needed someone to keep him grounded, to protect him from himself. His dreaming tendencies and irresponsibility is why we had to leave our home and family and relocate to Phoenix in the first place. Well I was wrong and now I am pissed.

"I better go tell the blushing bride that there will be no wedding. I just hope that Edward will forgive me someday for what I've done."

Tanya was getting ready to go to the spa with her sisters when we got to the suite. I was so livid I was actually going to take great pleasure in this. I knocked on the door and waited for Kate to open the door and I just pushed her aside and march in right up to Tanya with a smile on my face.

"Good morning Esme. Or should I officially call you Mom now." She laughed. I never realized how annoying her laugh was until now.

"Actually, you should call me your worst nightmare." I said sweetly as her smile faltered. "The wedding is off. My son ran off in the middle of the night because his bitch of a mother was forcing him to marry a no good, gold digging, cheating whore!" She looked like she was about to deny it when one look over my shoulder at Alice and Emmett changed her mind. I just turned and walked out of the room listening to my children and their spouses celebrating and going off on Tanya, like I guess they've been wanting to for awhile. I knew that my husband was following me. He kept quiet but held me as I sat on the sofa and cried. My Edward, my baby, was gone and it was entirely my fault. . Tanya's mother Carmen had been my best friend growing up. If she was alive today she would be appalled to see what a vile woman her daughter turned out to be. And that too was my fault. I just hope that wherever he was he was safe and happy. Most importantly that he was happy with this Bella, whoever she was.

BPOV

He had looked so sad sitting there at the bar, yet so gorgeous at the same time. Normally, I wouldn't be that bold but I had been drinking and talking to my best friend, Angela, on the phone. A safety precaution that her fiancé, Ben, had insisted on when I told him I was taking this trip solo. If I went to a bar, I was to call Angela and tell her when I got there and text at least every half hour until I left. That way they'd know that I was safe. Ben even went as far as to try to demand that if I was going to hook with some guy I was to text his full name and home address them with a photo. He was a little insane about it but I know that he just cares about me. I was glad that I had friends like them, there was no one else left to care about me anymore. I was alone. He finally backed off when Angela insisted that a serial killer wouldn't give me his real information anyway.

I was still talking to Angela, telling her about this sad guy and she encouraged me to talk to him. So, I did. He was amazing too. I think I fell for him the first time he looked into my eyes. By the time we were through talking I got really bold. He needed a reason and I gave it to him. I invited him to come with me and wrote down my room number. I left him to decide what he wanted to do. He showed up at my door fifteen minutes later looking a lot happier than when I had left him at the bar asking where we were going to first. My internal cheerleader was having a huge cheer fest that this amazing and gorgeous man wanted to travel the world with me. When I went to get the valet to bring my bike around the this morning I sent a text to Angela letting her know that Edward was coming along with me and I'd call her later. We had to stop by a bike shop before we hit the highway. My father was the police chief back home and I abided all traffic laws. And I didn't want anything to happen to his pretty face. We picked up helmets that had headsets in them so that we could talk. We had a lot to talk about so that we could get to know each and I sure as hell didn't want to spend our evenings in a hotel room saying anything but an occasional scream of "Oh GOD!"

We figured that we would get into San Diego about 10:30 and we would eat then. I think he really just wanted to get out of town before his family woke up. I couldn't blame him, they were really controlling when it came to his life. It wasn't until I merged onto the 105 that I felt him relax and leave all the stress behind him.

I had reservations at the Embassy Suites on the bay for the next night. I wasn't always going to stay in fancy hotels, there wasn't always going to be one available. But I was going to enjoy the option while I could. Especially since money wasn't an issue for me anymore. But, tonight Edward was in for a surprise. The zoo has a sleep over program and I signed up for it. I called this morning while he was in the shower to tell them that I had a guest coming with me.

We talked on the drive about animals that we wanted to see, the first on his list were the big cats and for me it was the polar bears. I had always enjoyed watching them swim and play at the zoo at home.

We took tons of pictures of ourselves throughout the day on my digital camera. At one point in the afternoon we stopped for ice cream and he asked about our hotel arrangements for the night. He seriously shocked me when he got totally excited about camping in the zoo. I believe that his exact words were "OH MY GOD! Are you fucking kidding me! My brother and I always wanted to go camping but the rest of out family was too prissy to do it. Wait until I tell him that we camped at the zoo. He is going to be so jealous."

As we finished our ice cream I brought up a subject that was bothering me for awhile.

"Uh, Edward, I am little surprised that your family isn't hounding you on your phone."

"That's because I left it behind when I left the letter. I am not ready to talk to them yet."

"I completely understand that, Edward I do."

We made our way over to the polar bears and sat talking while we watched them play.

"Tell me about your parents, Bella."  
"Well, they were wonderful people. My father was the Chief of Police and my mom ran a home daycare. I used to help out with the babies after school."

"What happen to the drunk driver that killed them?"

"He got Probation and community service."

"Really, that's it, why not manslaughter?"  
"He was only 15." Edward turned and gaped at me.

"15 years old. Where the hell did he find someone stupid enough to serve him?

"His parents. They were wealthy and spoiled and thought that they owned the town. Well, I proved them wrong."

'What do you mean?"  
"I sued them. I was angry. When their son took my parents from me, he took everything away from me. I was hurting and wanted them to hurt too. Angela's parents supported me in my decision to sue, the whole town did. I took everything they owned. That is how I am funding this trip."

"Wow. That makes me feel guilty about being 18 and having a fake ID."

"There is a difference. We are 18, legal adults, even if the government doesn't believe we are mature enough to choose to drink. It was Mike's 15th birthday. Those three years mean a lot when it comes to maturing and knowing right from wrong. Like not getting behind the wheel of a car, even sober, when you're not old enough to drive at all. But, seeing as his Mom gave him the car for his 14th birthday in the first place, maybe maturity doesn't come with age but with experience"

"Oh my God! MY family comes from money and we were pretty spoiled. But my parents would never have allowed that."

"Have you ever seen that old TV show "Little House on the Prairie?" He nodded that he had. "The Newton's are the Olson. They even have an older daughter, Lauren that makes Nellie Olson look like a cherub angel."

"Oh dear GOD! Are the kids still with the parents?"

"No. They were taking into protective custody and placed in foster care. Mr. and Mrs. Newton disappeared after I won the lawsuit. The rumors are that they fled to Seattle in shame. I hear she's now a waitress at IHOP."

Needing to change this subject before I started crying for thinking about my parents, I went for what I thought would a safe question about his past.

"So Edward, have you lived in Phoenix your whole life?"

"No. We had to move there when I was ten."

"Why? Where did you live before?"

"We lived in LA. We had to move because I was a dreamer and behaved stupidly."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"I was a dreamer, like I said. I would slip off and write all the time. My parents didn't know about my writing. Well my father didn't, I told him once and he told me that it was a waste of time and I needed to focus on more important things. My Mother supported me and bought me journals to write in. Well, one day I went for a walk in the woods behind our house. There was a meadow there where I would secretly write and had a safe place for all my journals. No one knew about my meadow. Not even my Mother. I was there a long time lost in my writing. I thought it was getting dark when I finished my story so I started heading home. It turned out that what I thought was darkness falling was really smoke from a forest fire. I ended up getting lost in the darkness and smoke and lost consciousness. I was lucky enough that a fireman found me before the actual fire did, I had apparently been walking toward the fire, away from the house. But the damage to my lungs was done. I was going to have trouble with my lungs for the rest of my life. It suggested by my doctor that we relocate to Phoenix for my health. My brother and sister were furious with me because they had to leave all their friends behind. My parents forbade me to do anymore writing. It didn't matter anyway, all my journals were destroyed. I was monitored closely after that, never allowed to wander off on my own, punished if I was caught daydreaming. That's when my parents decided to plan my life for me. I know that they love me and that the biggest part of it was that they went through four hours of not knowing where I was when the reports of fire came in and the terror of realizing that they may have to leave without me if the evacuation order came in to save my brother and sister. Then their worst fear was confirmed. I almost died in that fire. They almost lost me because of my writing. It's that guilt that's led me to do anything possible to make them happy. To make up for what I did and the trouble I caused for my whole family" I had tears streaming down my face. The poor boy. His poor parents. I understood their motivations more now, but it still didn't make it right. Forcing him to be what they wanted him to be and not giving him any choices in his life.

"Oh, Edward. I can't even imagine what that must have been like, the fear you had when lost in the woods, and your parents, what they went through looking for you. I could have lost you before I even got the chance to meet you. But still, I am so angry, they let their fear of losing you cause them to do things that made _you_ lose you, it's just not right! Oh God, I really need to stop crying now. We are in the middle of the zoo and people are looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Yeah, that was a little heavy for a discussion over ice cream."

By that time it was time to sign in for the campout so we wandered in that direction our hands joined together swinging between us. It was a fun night and was made all the better by the fact that Edward was with me, holding me all night and even though all we could do was kiss a little because there were children in the other tents it was still one of the best nights of my life.

The next morning I woke and his arms and he smiled at me and asked, "I know it's a little late to be asking, but what is your last name?" I just laughed and responded.

"Swan, my full name is Isabella Marie Swan and you?"

"Cullen. Edward Anthony Mason Cullen."

"Well, Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, what shall we do with our day? Should we stay and see more of the zoo or go to the beach?"

"The beach, I am definitely not stupid enough to pass up seeing you in a wet bathing suit. It is a bikini right? String? "

"You are incorrigible. You do know that?"

He grabbed my face and kissed me passionately and looking right into my eyes said, "And the weird thing is that I never was really interested in sex. I've only ever been with _her_, and it was never really that exciting. But the other night was simply the most amazing experience of my life." With that he helped me up and we left to check into our hotel. We both really needed a long hot shower before we went swimming, preferably together. California has this thing about water conservation, right? I mean, it would be a huge sacrifice to share my shower with Edward but we all must do what we can for the environment.

'What are you smirking about?"

"Oh. I am just contemplating way that I can help save the environment." I responded blushing deeply. He gave me a "yeah right!" look while laughing at me as we made our way to the parking lot.

We spent the day at the beach learning to surf and playing in the shallow water. Edward damn near had a heart attack when I wiped out for the first time. I am a bit uncoordinated and it took some time to be able to get up on the board. But it was amazing riding the waves with Edward right beside me.

And there was kissing. There was a lot of kissing. And there was more talking. We did not know everything about each other yet, but we would in time. I was, however convinced by this point that I was completely falling in love with him and by the way that he looked at me, I knew that he felt the same. It was crazy, I know, but love is like that sometimes.

For dinner we joined a group of friends that we had made while surfing at a campfire dinner. After dinner Edward and I went for a walk on the beach before heading back to the hotel. We sat on the beach holding each other when Edward pulled me tighter to him and kissed my hair. "Bella, I know we just met and I may be completely crazy for saying this so soon, but, I am positive that I am in love you with you. I love you and I want to be with you always."

There was no thinking about my answer at all. I turned in his arms and tackled him with tears streaming down my face, "If you are crazy then so am I because I am in love you too!" Then he kissed me again and held me close to his chest.

The next morning we stopped at Wal-Mart on our way out of town to print our pictures. He had me get a second set made to mail to his family. When I gave him a questioning look he simply stated that while he still did not want to call them he did want them to know that he was fine. He included the note:

"I love you all and I am well and extremely happy!

Love always,

Edward.

P.S.

Emmett, checkout the pictures of us camping at the San Diego Zoo, it was amazing.

A/N

I promise that I won't keep jumping POV's and being repetitive in the chapters. They all demanded that I let them have their say. Most of the story will be alternated between Edward and Bella. But I will throw in more of the family's POVs. If you have tourist trap idea you'd like to see them go to, I am open to suggestions. I don't have their whole trip planned yet, but I have a few locations that they will go to. My pen name should give you a clue to one destination, LOL! I just hope that their stop there goes better than my trip last week! There is a picture of Bella's ducati on my profile at FFn. I will be adding pictures there a lot throughout the story.

Two points that I would like to make. I know that what happened to Edward when he was 10 was overly dramatic. It had to be. There had to be a huge catalyst for making Esme snap and become so overbearing. It had to be near death. What happened to the Newton's (the spoiled rich family the destroyed Bella's) was based on what happened to a family in my town. They were rich and popular. The father played college ball, I think he got the Heissman trophy, and they owned a chain of furniture stores that they built from the ground up. Well, they thought it was a good idea to host a party for their kids and hire bartenders. Someone called the police and the party was raided. People were so angry and disgusted with the parents that it didn't take long for the stores to file bankruptcy and their home to be foreclosed on. Updates should be every Tuesday. If there is going to be a delay I will post on my blog or on twitter. See my profile of FFn for those links.

For the disclaimer: Please see chapter one! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

New Buddies and Old Friends

EPOV:

As we lay in bed that night naked and completely tangled up in each other we discussed where we were going to travel to next. Several options were bantered about until I grabbed Bella, moving her so that she was straddling me, and exclaimed that I had the perfect destination.

"You liked camping at the zoo, right?" she nodded. "And I have always wanted to go camping for real." She nodded again. "Then let's head to the Grand Canyon. I think that I read online once that there are places where you can take these river rafting tours. Let's do it, please!"

She considered that for a minute before she leaned down and kissed me on the nose. "Let's do it." She exclaimed. She reached over to grab her laptop off the nightstand effectively putting her boobs right in my face. Well, I couldn't have them right there and not do anything about it. So our research was temporarily put on hold while we tended to more important tasks.

When we did finally get to researching the Grand Canyon we found out that there was a tour that would take us on a rafting adventure for eighteen days. We would start at Lee's Ferry and end at Diamond Creek. We decided that we would call and make a reservation first thing in the morning.

The next day we ran to Wal-Mart before hitting the road. While there I needed to refill my prescriptions for my meds and inhaler. I hadn't needed either for a couple of years but I didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere having an attack without them and without being able to get proper medical care either.

I also decided spur of the minute to send some pictures to my family. I did love them and did not want them to worry about me. I thought that if I let them see that I was happy and having a great time that might not be so upset when I was finally ready to call them. I just wasn't there yet. I knew that we had a lot of issues to work through when I got home. I also picked up a new journal. I thought that if I was going to go into the wilderness for eighteen days I might be inspired to write again. Being in the calmness of nature was always when I was able to write the most. And write the best in my opinion.

We had tried to avoid delaying our departure by ordering breakfast up to our room in an attempt to save time. But then Bella called Angela and I spent a good hour on the phone being thoroughly interrogated by Angela and her fiancé Ben. They were really nice people even if Angela did scare me at first. The first thing she said to me was "Who the hell do you think you are and what the hell do you think you're doing with Bella? If you think you'll get your hands on her money…" That was as far as she got before Bella told her to shut up because I was a trust fund baby and therefore had no reason to want her money. They were living in Seattle where they were attending school together. They weren't officially living together, as Angela's father is a minister, but Bella assured me that Angela is spending more nights at Ben's than her own dorm room. Bella was lucky to have these two people who care so much about her. They were right to be leery of me at first. I was a stranger to them. I could have been a con-artist or a serial killer for all they knew. It took awhile but I finally convinced Ben that none of my intentions towards Bella included raping, murdering, or robbing her. I was just a naïve boy trying to break free of his family's tight grip. I was hopeful that eventually one day we would be friends.

It was already noon when we got on the road so we were not going to get to The Grand Canyon until late tonight. As absurd as it sounds we decided to use the path that would take us North, back up California to Los Angeles before turning East into Arizona. The other route would have taken us directly into Phoenix and I definitely did not want to do that. So we were going to be retracing our steps. We would have to get a hotel for a couple of nights as our rafting adventure wasn't starting until the morning after next. I was so excited. Rafting all day and camping under the stars with Bella at night. It was going to be wonderful.

We stopped in Kingman, Arizona to eat at a place Mad Dog's Dog House. It was an interesting little sports bar where we met some nice locals who frequented the bar; Tia and Benjamin, they were so incredible to watch. I think that man would move the earth and water if it meant protecting Tia. We also met some Harley riders that were passing through like us. Seth, Paul, Leah, Sam and Sam's fiancée Emily were spending the summer traveling route 66. We started by moving tables together. We may not be riding a Harley but we were still bikers and we were welcomed into the group with open arms. Literally. I don't think that I had ever been hugged by a man that I wasn't related to before. Tonight I was hugged by 3 men. Our new friends order a couple pitchers of beer and we gladly joined them. After we ate Seth and I decided to play some pool. Before long the whole group ended up at the pool tables and several more pitchers of beer were ordered. Bella playing pool was an extreme exercise in self control. Why did she have to wear those tight little jeans today? And the way that she was bending over that table! We were going to have to find away to recreate that soon. Maybe when we finally settle down I will make sure that we have a pool table in our home. Strip billiard sounds like a hell of a lot of fun right now. We drank a little too much and stayed a little too late, so we ended up getting a motel room and would head out the next day. The motel was seedy and a little gross. But it was within walking distance of the bar at that was the most important selling point at the moment. We weren't completely inebriated but still never even entertained the idea of getting on the bike and driving, but I don't think that we would have gotten far anyway; none of us could walk very well at this point. When we finally got to the room we barely made it through the door before we were ripping each other's clothes off.

The ride the next day ended up being pretty strained. I couldn't help myself though, I was just having fun. It was just too tempting sitting behind her with my arms wrapped around her waist not to move my hands up and play with her breasts or move my hands down and massage her thighs. But what really pissed her off was when I tried to slip one of my hands into her pants between her legs. She pulled over and started yelling at me about how dangerous and foolish that was. Not to mention how being on a bike everyone would see everything and think she's some kind of whore. I felt so low after that. I just apologized and suggested we get going again.

BPOV:

I should not have yelled at him like that, he was so excited and so happy and he didn't mean any harm. But it was so distracting and I was trying to drive and yet, it was I that caused him harm with my temper and the callous words that flowed out of my mouth. Now he was quiet. Every time I asked him a question I had to ask twice, and even then he only gave a yes or no answer. And I wasn't even asking yes or no questions. I had hurt his feelings. I eventually gave up and got lost in my own thoughts. I had always hated the girls at school who thought it was appropriate to allow their boyfriends to fondle and grope them in full public view. I wasn't completely dead set against PDA, but I was when to that extreme. Kissing, hugging, and holding hands in public is one thing, especially if it's kept at least pg-13. But the girls from school would practically have sex with their boyfriends' right there in the cafeteria. It was rumored that a few would go down on their boyfriends under the tables. Ugh.

It was the reason that I lost my first boyfriend. The only boyfriend I'd ever had. It wasn't like I was a prude or anything. I had sex with him. I went down on him several times. I thought that we were happy. But apparently he was not. He had an exhibitionist streak that I just couldn't satisfy. It first started when he asked me to give him head while he was driving me home one night. I refused saying that it was improper and dangerous. Yeah, the same thing I said to Edward. He didn't answer my calls for three days that time. Then a couple months later we were at a bonfire at the beach with some of our friends. He wanted me to follow him in the trees and have sex with him. I again refused. My mother had drilled into my head the saying, "what you do in public you do 10 times worse in private." He was however able to talk this freshman, Courtney, into going into the woods with him. Not only did he cheat on me but he humiliated me in front our friends. I got him back though. They were so distracted that they didn't notice me sneaking up on them. I took their pants and threw them into the bonfire and then had a friend drive me home. It was talk of the small town that we lived in, how they had to go home with no pants on. My temper does tend to get the best of me, but I have my principles and I won't back down from them.

By the time we pulled up to the El Tovar Hotel where we were staying at we hadn't spoken in almost two hours. I did this and I had to be the one the fix it, and fast. It was getting close to dinner time and I thought that we would just order room service and stay in for the night. We needed to talk and it was better to do so alone and in private.

As soon as we finished eating Edward got up from the table and flopped down on the bed flipping through TV stations. I sighed and walked over to the bed and lay down next to him. He still wasn't speaking to me and this had to stop.

"Edward, I am sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. I love you." I looked up at him and he was looking at me, also a first since we got here. "I don't want to lose you." I added in a whisper.

"You aren't going to lose me, sweetheart. You were right, it was foolish and dangerous and I am sorry that I embarrassed you. But you have to realize that my mother has said those exact words to me repeatedly for years. But she never apologized for it."

I gasped, "Oh God, Edward! I never meant to treat you like that. I'll never do it again. I promise. But really what got into you? What was with all the groping?"

He rolled over and nuzzled my neck. "What got into me Bella? You did. You were sitting up against me and whenever you'd move you'd rub right against my cock and I was so hard and just wanted to fuck you right there on the bike on the side of the highway. Why did it upset you like it did? I mean we kissed and held each other at the beach and you didn't seem to mind." I explained about Jacob and my feeling of extreme PDA and he apologized for being inappropriate."

"You have no reason to apologize, Edward; you didn't deserve to get yelled at like that. Isn't there anything that I could do to make it up to you?" I said looking up through my lashes.

"Well, you could kiss me."

"Kiss you here?" I said, smiling and kissing on his forehead.

"Lower." Then I kissed his nose.

"Lower" I kissed lips.

"Lower" I moved to his neck.

"Lower" I moved to his chest

"Lower" I moved to his stomach.

"Lower" he whispered. I smirked and moved to kiss his cock over his pants.

"Under the clothes, Bella, I want to feel your lips touch my skin."

So I slowly undid his pants and pulled him out and kissed the tip, giving it a little lick making him hiss. Then started to put him away and he grabbed my hand to stop me.

"Please Bella!" I smiled at him.

"Well, if you're going to beg me..." And I took him completely in my mouth as his hand moved to my hair. I love the sounds that he makes when we are together like this. He makes me feel sexy, wanted, desired, cherished. And the way that he caressed my hair while I worked on him was so gentle and loving. Jacob had never made me feel loved like Edward does. When I was done we spent a long time just holding each other and kissing, slowly undressing each other until we were completely naked and tangled in each other. He loved my breasts for some reason and insisted on spending a lot of time showing them attention. I didn't get it, I never thought that they were very large or anything special, but he said that they were perfect, just like everything else about me. Our lovemaking continued to be slow and loving and as always completely amazing. There was no need to rush tonight; this was not about getting a release. It was purely about being loved. It was about the love that we felt for each other that could not be communicated in words because there simply were no words to describe our love for each other. It was like I had known him for years rather than a few days I fell asleep that night completely wrapped up in Edward and happier than I have ever been.

A/N

First I want to thank AnUnbrokenHorse aka RushtonElf for betaing this for me, I appreciate it greatly.

OK. I tried to write a lemon or lime whatever that ended up being and I got closer. It wasn't a complete fade to black. It wasn't easy for me, but please be honest with me about it, about if it was alright or not. I know it wasn't very detailed but I tried. I know there was some angst here, but I made sure that it was resolved. I will try to never leave things unsettled at the end of a chapter, if I can help it. This is the second time I wrote this chapter. The first edition is now chapter 5. This chapter took off on me in directions that I never intended it to. I know this is short but I didn't want to get into all the river rafting and camping stuff yet. See ya'll in a week…there may be a family POV. They are starting to yell at me that they feel neglected!

Come visit with me on twitter (branson101) or my blog at .com I will post there when regarding teaser and if there will be story delays. Or come visit if you have a comment or question about the story. I am still willing to take ideas for their travels.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

On the river of love

Disclaimer: I just want to say before you begin reading that I have never been camping let alone river rafting. I few things here I got from research, other things just I made up. So I apologize in advance for not knowing much about camping and utilizing creative license. I am the type of prissy girl that refuses to travel anywhere where I do not have hot running water and a toilet. I'll do an outhouse if I have to….but no bushes. I am a spoiled city girl.

EPOV:

The next morning we got up and grabbed a quick breakfast before we had to be at the meet up spot for the rafting tour. Bella kept laughing at me because I seriously could not sit still and she swears that I was so excited that I was vibrating.

We were told to pack in a knapsack only what was absolutely necessary. We had arranged for the rest of our stuff to be held at the hotel. Obviously we were not the first guests to need to store luggage while taking an adventure. An adventure! What part of the last four days hadn't been an absolute adventure? This had all happened so fast and came completely out of nowhere, but I knew what I wanted and for the first time in my life I was going to do anything I had to do to get it. I went online when Bella was in the shower this morning and found what I needed to make it happen.

When we arrived at the meet up spot we were given several waterproof bags and had to sign these papers saying basically it said that they weren't responsible if the waterproof bags didn't work and our stuff got ruined. We also had to sign papers that said that the company couldn't be held responsible if we got lost, maimed, or killed on the tour.

Then we had to sit around for a couple of hours listening to the guides Peter and Charlotte teach us the lingo, how to river raft, and most the rules and safety guidelines. Some of those safety guidelines they said that they were required to tell us were insane. It's like the safety warning on a toaster telling you not to take a shower with it. It consisted of things like help point out obstacles, don't wander off without telling someone, keep your legs in the boat at all times, and my favorite, in the event of a capsize please save people before possessions. Really! I would hate to meet the person who would save a camera before a fellow rafter.

After we were quizzed over the lingo that he told us he would use to issue commands we were ready to head to the boats. Here was the bad thing about that. We were currently on top of the canyon and the boats were on very bottom and the best way, hell, the only way to get down there was by mule. I was very nervous to be on a mule. I had never ridden a horse before either. I looked over at Bella who looked absolutely terrified of the animal in front of her before Charlotte walked over and started reassuring her. I watched as Peter and Charlotte helped Bella up onto beast. Then I mounted mine. I tried to get it to walk over to where Bella was but only managed to get it to go into circles. Three times clockwise and then two times counterclockwise, by the time that I got the damn thing to stop Bella was laughing hysterically at me, so were the guides and a few other rafters. I guess it had to be a pretty funny sight. Even I couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it.

Finally we started our descent down the canyon. We weren't actually going to get onto the boats until after lunch today. The ride down was amazingly calm and uneventful and slow. Every one was busy getting to know their fellow campers and taking in the amazing scenery. It was the most beautiful place that I had ever seen. And I live in Arizona. Everyone was snapping pictures of everything that they could before we had to store our cameras away.

After a few hours of riding down the trail at last we made it to the bottom of the trail and to the river. After eating lunch and some more quizzing by Peter and Charlotte we were ready to load the boats and go. There were twelve of us including the guides. We were to split into two groups of five with one guide per boat. Bella and I joined the group that was going to be in Charlotte's boat. They explained the reason for having a guide in each boat was that there needed to be a boat captain for each boat and the captain needed to be the most experienced. And just in case the boats were separated each boat would have a guide that would ensure there safety to the best of their abilities. In other words, they'd try to keep us alive but make no guarantees.

The first leg of our trip was fun and calm. We did not hit any rapids only calm waters. After we reached what was to be our first campsite Peter and Charlotte handed out our assignments. Some of us were to pitch the tents, others were to unload the boats, and the rest would go collect firewood. I was assigned to help with the tents while Bella went off with the group searching for firewood. I noticed that the guides had tried to separate people as much as possible. They liked the idea of using the chores as a get to know you activity. They said that you don't learn as much or grow as much from the trip if you seclude yourself only with the people you came with. I worked with Charlotte, Kyle, Sarah, and Jennifer. Kyle was thirteen and a huge flirt. He kept us entertained by hitting on the girls with the cheesiest pick up lines ever uttered. Before long we had all chores done and took some time to explore the camp site. We were even able to play in the water around the shore line to cool off. We were warned, however, to make sure that we always had dry clothes to sleep in.

After a supper of hot dogs and beans we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in front of the fire, chatting, telling scary stories, and eating smores. After the sun had completely set and the stars came out, I grabbed Bella's hand and walked her away from the group. We sat down away from everyone but where we could still see camp and they could still see us and lay there watching the stars. It was the most romantic night that I have ever spent and I didn't know how I would ever top it but I would find a way. I wanted to show Bella romantic evenings like this frequently, so that she would always know how much I love her and how much I cherish her happiness.

The next morning we got up and helped prepare the breakfast before loading up the boats again. As soon as Charlotte and Peter were positive that the fire was out we got into the boats and took off. The morning trip was a lot more exciting than yesterday. We hit a few rapids but nothing major. Charlotte told us that we would hit a spot that afternoon with some major rapids. We would see bigger ones in a few days, however.

The rapids, well, there are hardly words to relate what it was like. The adrenaline was running high amongst all of us by the time that the afternoon was over. We were bouncing all over the place while we made camp. After that was done I told Peter that Bella and I were going to take a walk along the beach. I wanted to make love to her so much but I didn't even press it. It was going to be a long eighteen days but I didn't want to pressure her. Even out here in the middle of nowhere there was a chance that someone from the group would hear us or heaven forbid stumble upon us. And with her history with the idiot she dated before there was no way I was going to even suggest that we go for a romp in the woods. So I was remaining a good boy. But as soon as we got back to civilization and to a hotel all bets were off.

The great thing about this tour was that we didn't spend all day every day in the raft. There were nature hikes and excursions along the way. A couple of stops had us exploring old Navajo and Hopi villages. They had long since been abandoned but the history and artifacts there were spectacular and fun to explore.

Three days after the stop at the Native American villages had us stopped midday at a camp site that had an amazing waterfall. We all spent the afternoon playing in the water and laying out on the shore.

The rest of the trip seemed to fly by so quickly. Before we knew it we were at the end of the line and mounting those damn beasts again for the trip back up and out of the canyon. Once we reached the top rim we were herded onto a small bus and taken back to the original meet up site where our vehicles were. It took over an hour after getting back to the bike before we were able to get away.

We were busy exchanging contact information with all of our new friends, especially David and Megan. They were best friends to like to take adventures together. David had just proposed to his high school sweet heart a couple weeks before leaving for the trip. I wondered initially how David's fiancé could trust him on a trip like this with a woman he was obviously very close to, until Meg told us that David dragged her on the trip to cheer her up since her girlfriend of three years just broke up with her. That explained the trust issue. Carolyn, David fiancé knew that she didn't have to worry about them. Plus there was the fact that the three of them grew up together. David and Meg were all about exploring and the outdoors and Carolyn was not. Meg said that when they announced the engagement to her, Carolyn actually told her "don't think that just because I'm marrying him that you get out of doing all the outdoorsy crap that he loves, that's still your job and will always be your job." David told us that as soon as they set a date he would call and let us know so that we could plan to be in St. Louis for the wedding.

The ride back to the hotel seemed to take forever. I practically dragged her up to the room telling her it was a good thing that the hotel had room service because there was no way that we were leaving the room, let alone the bed, for the next two days. Her answer, "you're kidding yourself if you think I am going to argue with you on that!"

However, I did end up leaving the room while she was sleeping at one point. I had ordered something to be delivered there while we were gone and I needed to retrieve it. I had plans to need it before we moved on to our next destination, which hadn't actually been chosen yet.

The night before we left, I convinced her to leave the room for a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. Then I suggested that we take a walk down to the over look and take in the canyon at sunset. I was lucky that there were only a handful of people down there and we had some privacy.

BPOV:

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I said to Edward who had been standing right behind me. His response of "Not as beautiful as you are" came from much lower than it should have. When I spun around, I found that he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. I looked around and saw that the few people that had been here at the over look now were completely engrossed in what we were doing rather than looking at the scenery.

"Bella Swan, I love you with all my heart and all my soul. The night we met you ask me to follow my heart. Bella, you are my heart and I will follow you wherever your heart desires. I would be the luckiest man alive if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?"  
"Yes. Oh Edward! YES!" As he stood up and pulled me into his arms for a kiss the people watching us starting cheering and yelling congratulations to us. My father was right. Love is not something that you search for but something that finds you when you aren't looking.

A/N

Hey there! I contemplated for a long time about how much detail I wanted to put into the rafting trip. I could have detailed all 18 days but I figured that not only would I be bored to tears writing it, but my readers would be bored reading such a long account. So I settled on some highlights. I also debated on where to end it. I was going to leave right before she answered the proposal, but I was eager to show off her ring which is on pictease and will be on my profie. I do have to list some sources that I used here real quickly

Nrsweb(.)com/safety_tips/putin_safety_talk(.)asp

www(.)maddogs(.)ws

Yes, maddogs bar from the previous chapter is a real place.

Watch for teasers at just a sip, pic tease, and fictionators.

Lastly, thanks to all who have read and reviewed you guys make my day with your appreciation of my little fic. Hugs to all of you! Oh. Little warning about the upcoming future updates. My son is starting middle school, conservatory rehearsals, and private lessons start again in one week. Plus my classes start a week after that. I am taking 3 classes this semester and I work full time. I may not be able to update weekly when things get busy, but I will keep every informed through my twitter and blog.

Again thanks to Courtney for being awesome and betaing for me!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapels and Telephones

EPOV:

As we lay in bed that night I held her tightly to my chest. It was hard to believe that I was engaged to this beautiful woman. She was my fiancée and I had chosen her. She wasn't chosen for me or forced on me. This was another major life decision that I made on my own. Yes, she had to agree to it but I chose this. It was odd to think that way, to know that I had the power to make my own choices, to be crazy and impulsive and not care about the consequences.

We decided last night before she fell asleep that we were going to go to Reno to get married. It was to be the next stop on the Edward and Bella World Tour. Vegas was way overrated. Everyone runs off to elope in Vegas. But we were different. We did some research and found a couple of chapels that looked nice and we were going to check them out.

We weren't going to have a big wedding or any family at the wedding, at all, but that doesn't mean that we were going to do it half assed. Bella wanted to wear a wedding dress and for me to be in a tux. I assured her that it wasn't a ridiculous request and she could have anything she wanted for our wedding. Even if that meant waiting until we could put together a big wedding. I noticed that she was crying at that point. She said that she didn't want a huge wedding. It wouldn't be the same without her parents being there. She said that she understood that I had a big family but she had no one and didn't want to have to go through that. But that wasn't really true. She wasn't alone. She never was. She'd always had people who loved her and cared about her. She knew it; she just didn't always see it.

Tomorrow was Saturday and we would leave for Reno and marry the following Saturday. That would be perfect. I knew what I wanted to give my bride as a wedding gift. I knew that I couldn't let her get married without having this.

When we woke the next morning we called Angela and Ben to tell them the good news. "Hey Ang. We're getting married!" Bella squealed into the phone. Then Angela launched into a million questions about when and where the nuptials would take place. She seemed a little disappointed that not only had Bella told her that it was going to be this weekend in Reno but didn't mention an invite to the wedding. Bella had mentioned to me wanting to invite them but didn't want to put them on the spot if they couldn't get away from school on such short notice. I also knew that she was avoiding asking them because even if they had a legitimate reason for not being able to be here, Bella would have felt rejected and abandoned. Even though she knew that wasn't the case. She was still dealing with losing her family and the life long repercussions of that.

She did however send her a picture of the ring that she had taken with her phone. And I have to say that it is much prettier than the ring than Mom had picked out for Tanya. We knew the second that Angela and Ben had opened the file when we heard screams of OH MY GOD! Bella started laughing uncontrollably telling them that half the dorm floor just heard them and would think they were screaming out during sex. I laughed harder when Angela swore that she was never going to leave the room again. To which Ben opened his mouth with "Yes! A sex slave, I order you to be naked 24/7!" To which we heard a hard thwack and Angela ask if that was the intention that he was going to tell her minister father that he had in regard's to their relationship. He promptly apologized to her and told her how much he adores her. Bella and Angela went on to discuss wedding stuff while I jumped in the shower. By the time that we were ready to go I knew that something was bothering Bella and I knew exactly what it was. She wanted Angela and Ben at our wedding.

The drive to Reno was uneventful and relatively normal. It felt good to get back on the road and on the bike after staying at the canyon for so long. We returned to telling each other things about our childhoods. Things we did and dreams that we had. When we arrived at the Atlantis Casino Resort it was early in the evening but we were both tired and in need of showers from being on the road all day. When she went in the shower after I got out I immediately took my chance and grabbed her phone. I found the number that I was looking for and hit send. It was answered on only the second ring.

"Hey Ben, its Edward. I don't have a lot of time but I need to ask you for something as a surprise for Bella."

"Sure, anything for her."

"Can you and Angela come to Reno to be our witnesses? I know it would mean everything to her for you guys to be here."

"Yes. Oh man, you bet we'll be there. Angela was so upset that we were not going to be there." Then I heard Angela come into the room and muffled voices while Ben explained what was going on. Then Angela started screaming Thank you! Ben came back on the line laughing about the fact that Angela was jumping up and down around the room.

"Hey Edward, I don't want to be pushy but could we invite Angela's parents to come along. I mean, they were the first to volunteer to take her in when her parents died and they love her just as much as they do Angela…"

"Of course you can invite them. We want to get married next Saturday. When can you get free from School?"

"Angela has a test on Monday after that I think we can afford to skip some classes."

"Great. I will go online and get book all of you on a flight down here." We went on to quickly discuss the details of how I was going to surprise Bella with our wedding guests.

The next day we went to look at some chapels and found one that we just loved. They had a lake where they could hold ceremonies and it was perfect. Bella fell in love with it immediately so we booked it. She made an appointment to go to a bridal boutique on Tuesday to look for a dress. She thought that I would be going with her. Um. No. I would be hanging out with Ben and William, Angela's father. Angela and her mother, Diana, would go dress shopping with Bella. She just didn't know it yet.

Monday we spent the day relaxing in the casinos and taking in the sights of Reno. That night I dragged her out to dinner at a nice restaurant. Bella gave me a strange look when I told the host that we were going to be a party of six, but I told her that I had met some new friends that wanted to help celebrate our engagement with us. It wasn't a lie, exactly. As planned about five minutes after we were seated I looked and announced that my new friends had arrived.

When she turned in her seat and saw the four of them approaching our table she started crying before she jumped out of her seat and launched herself at Angela. As soon she managed extricate herself from Angela's grip the others grabbed her. By the time they made it to the table Bella was crying so hard that she needed to excuse herself to calm down and Angela went with her. So, I introduced myself to William and Diana and we started getting to know each other. When the waiter came over to get our drink order William asked for the best bottle of champagne. After the waiter walked away William looked at us and laughed,"If you kids think that I am not aware that you have fake ID's your kidding yourselves."

Bella returned to the table shortly after the champagne arrived and the rest of the dinner went smoothly. Bella was so happy that she was literally glowing. The Webbers' and Ben were some of the nicest people I had ever met. We made plans for the rest of the week specifically where wedding plans were wedding planning was concerned. The girls were going to take care of most everything over the next few days while I got to get to know William and Ben better. I knew what that translated to; it was going to be a long week of getting the third degree from the two of them.

The second that Bella and I made it into to the room that night she leaped into my arms crying again, "Thank you. I wanted them here so much, Edward."

"I knew you did sweetheart. I don't want to you look back at our wedding with any regrets, especially about having the people that you love here with you."

"What about you? Don't you want your family here for our wedding?"

"Part of me does. I don't know. I miss them and I know that they will be sad that they missed it. But…"

"You're not ready."

"No."

"Ok, I can respect that as long as you're sure that you won't regret not having them here."

"I don't know that I can say that I would never regret it. Let me think about it. Ok."

"Either way, Edward, as long as you are happy on our wedding day." And with that we crawled into bed and I held her close to me as I gave serious consideration of how and when I was going to mend my relationship with my family. I loved them but would they love me enough to respect my choices. I knew that I needed to make a decision about this soon before irreparable harm was done to my relationship with my family. I definitely did not want that.

The next day while the girls were off shopping, we men went to rent tuxes and then we went to lunch. The beginning of lunch was both William and Ben grilling me about my past and my family. Although Ben conceded at the end that he'd already decided that I was a good guy, he just wanted the practice for the day that he and Angela had a daughter. By the end of lunch they were divulging stories about Bella that she never would have willing shared. Apparently she was extremely accident prone as a kid. One of the best was her first day of high school. Her locker door was jammed and in her struggle to open it she did not notice someone come over to help her. She got the door to open right as the guy got to her and it opened with such force that it whammed him right in the face. She was absolutely mortified when she saw the guy on ground with a bleeding nose. What made it worse was the by the end of the day everyone knew and she was famous for having broken the nose of the varsity quarterback! Ben said that she never lived that one down but she and Keith became good friends. And William told me that it was a regular occurrence to hear a crash during mass and to look up to see that somehow Bella had sent the collection plate flying and the money was scattered everywhere. When we met up with the girls later that afternoon to help them with their packages I couldn't help but start laughing the second I saw Bella and she was fumbling with her packages and ended up dropping them. She looked at Ben and William, who were now laughing hysterically as well, and got angry. "I knew I couldn't trust the three of you to be alone without gossiping about my most mortifying moments!"

But like most times with Bella's anger, it was quick to come and quick to go. She had a very forgiving nature and didn't like to hold grudges. I wished that I could be more like her on that. It would make making the decision that I have been wrestling with so much easier. Maybe I'd finally be able to make a decision.

The next few days went by rather quickly. It was now Friday night and I could not wait to make Bella my wife tomorrow. Funny, isn't it? Just over a month ago I was sitting in a hotel bar praying that God would help me find away out of marrying Tanya. And he sent me Bella. He sent me an angel.

Tonight William, Ben, and I were going out for a bachelor type party while the girls were going off to do the same. I remember when Emmett wanted to throw me one and Tanya put her foot down and refused to allow it. When I mentioned that to Bella she laughed, kissed me on the nose and said "Yeah, well I really don't think you and Ben would ever entertain the notion of taking Reverend Weber, who is also going to be Ben's father in law, to a strip club and I am fine with whatever there is left for the three of you to go into." We ended up going to dinner, a cigar club, and then the casino.

The girls were going to stay together in the suite that I had rented for Angela's parents and us guys were staying in the room that Bella and I had been using. Bella knew that I had made appointments at the spa for the three of them to get some pampering and then they were off to get their hair and makeup done. We guys were also headed to the spa for massages to relax before we met the girls at the chapel at five.

By this point I had obviously made my decision. I had told Bella the other day that I was not going to invite my family to the wedding. However, I felt guilty that they would not know about the wedding until after Bella and I got married. So that led me to my second decision. About three o'clock I asked Ben if I could borrow his phone. I took it and walked out onto the balcony, sat down, and dialed a very familiar number.

ESME'S POV:

I was sitting in the den looking at the new pictures that we had just received from Edward when the phone next to me started to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mom."

"Oh my God! Edward! Are you ok? Is everything alright? Honey, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry for everything. I had no idea! I swear I didn't know." I was crying into the phone. I needed for him to understand, to know that I was wrong and I knew it.

"I know you didn't mom. I just called because, well, I wanted to make sure that you knew that I love you and I miss all of you, even if I am not ready to come home yet."

"I love you too. We all do. I understand that you're not ready to come back. I really do."

"What about dad?"

"Him too. Honey we all get it. I did so many things wrong. I made so many mistakes. I hurt you so bad and I am so sorry and I need you to know that I am getting help. You're dad and I talked a lot about it after you left and we believe my problems started back when Grandma died."

"I remember that, you were devastated when she died. Dad always said that a part of you died with her. I remember that he couldn't get you to get out of bed for three days. Aunt Carmen had to drag you out of bed while trying to taking care of all of us."

"Did you also know that the day you got lost, while you were out wandering the woods during that fire, I was on the phone trying to calm down Carmen? That was the day that she found the lump in her breast. I had lost my mom, I almost lost you, and then Carmen was sick. Then I lost her too. There was so much that I had to deal with that I never dealt with it, I just pushed on. I never gave myself the chance to grieve or recover."

"You sound like a psychiatrist."

"I am seeing a therapist."

"Really? That's great mom. I'm glad."

"Thank you. It's helping a lot. I am seeing a lot of things that I avoided instead of dealing with them. And I am seeing that my controlling nature hurts people and I am working on that."

"That's great Mom. I…I'm proud of you. Did you guys get the pictures?"

"Yes, we did. I am looking at them right now. Edward, Bella is absolutely beautiful. And Emmett was so jealous, not only about the zoo thing, but about you and Bella rafting through the Grand Canyon. He is trying to convince Rosalie to go." I didn't tell him, but, we were all a little hurt that he was that close and didn't come home. We knew why and really we did understand, but we do miss him terribly.

"I don't think she'd go for that. It was an eighteen day tour with no showers and the toilet was literally just a designated bush, but it was amazing."

"Will…um…will you tell me about Bella?" He proceeded to tell me about how wonderful Bella is, how intelligent, fun loving, and accident prone. He told me how much she loves children and how she helped out at her mother's day care growing up and that he was positive that she was going to make a wonderful mother someday. He told me about her losing her parents, the reason behind her trip, and how they met that night and what was going through his mind when he decided to go with her.

"She sounds absolutely wonderful, dear, and I can tell that you love her. I can hear it in your voice and see it in your eyes when I look at the pictures of you two together."

"I do love her Mom. We're…we're getting married…this afternoon."

"That's wonderful honey. I am so happy for you."

"You mean that mom?"

"Yes. I do."

"Thank you, Mom. I really needed to hear that from you."

"I love you, Edward; I just want you to be happy. Can I ask you one thing though?"

"Sure." I heard the hesitation in his voice. I knew what he was afraid of what I'd ask. But I wouldn't do it. I promised myself that if he called I would not ask him where he was and I would not beg or guilt him into coming home. Jasper is the one that convinced me of that. Edward needed this time away from us to figure things out and figure out who he was and wanted to be.

"Do you think that you will come home eventually?"

"We haven't really discussed that yet. I don't know if we'll come back to Phoenix to live. But I promise that, no matter what, we will come to visit."

"Thank you, Edward. For calling and letting us know that you are alright. Everyone is going to be sorry that they missed your call."

"You're welcome, Mom. I love you, but I have to go. I have to meet Bella soon. I'll call again soon, ok?"

"Ok. Be happy Edward."

"I am. I promise you that I am." And with that he ended the call.

I immediately started dialing my husband's cell. He didn't even get a chance to say hello before I started screaming into phone that Edward called and that he was getting married. We were both sorry that we would not be there and I knew that a part of him must still be angry and hurt by my behavior to not have invited us, but I meant what I said when I told him that I was sorry for everything. I _never_ meant to hurt him. I never meant to hurt anyone. But as it turned out my behavior had affect my whole family. I had hurt so many people with my selfish behavior and I had a lot to atone for. It also didn't escape my notice that Edward didn't say that he forgave me. The way that I treated him was by far the worst and most atrocious of anyone. I could live with the fact that he wasn't ready to forgive me yet. He had called and that was enough for now. I got to hear his voice and talk to him. For the first time since he took off I knew that I was going to be able to sleep tonight. Because I knew for sure now that I had not lost my son forever that he was going to allow me to be a part of his — their lives. For that I would be grateful and happy.

A/N

He called home! Esme is a more eccentric version of my dad. He lost 5 close family members with in a few months when I was a baby. Add that to being a pig headed catholic father of three girls. The number one rule in the house was that we girls could not date until after we graduated from high school. My brother dated in high school though! Even though he was too strict and his rules ended up having negative impacts on our lives, I loved him. It's taken a long time to realize this, but he did have our best interest at heart, he just went about it the wrong way. Like Edward I took off out of state as soon as I could and I gypsied around with friends for a couple years before I decided it was time to come home. A little over a year after I made my peace with him he died suddenly of a heart attack. I miss him terribly and I am grateful that I did come home when I did. Unlike my dad, Esme is getting help. But you know more about how Esme ended up the way she did.

A pic of the wedding site and Bella's dress will be on my profile at ffn. Again watch for teasers on just a sip, fictionators, and pictease.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Love springs eternal

BPOV:

I couldn't believe that he did this for me. He called Angela and got them to come to the wedding. This is how much he loved me, he arranged for the only people left that I consider family to come to our wedding. But he didn't invite his own family. I was a little sad myself that I here I was about to become his wife and still hadn't met my in laws. I haven't quite decided if that was a bad thing or not. I was not his mother's biggest fan at the moment and that whole Tanya issue might make things uneasy or stressful and I didn't want that surrounding my wedding. But I didn't want him to regret anything either.

Spending the week with the Webber's and Ben was amazing. They absolutely loved Edward. Mrs. Webber pulled me aside the morning that we went dress shopping and told me that not only did Reverend Webber love Edward and approve of him marrying me but she knew that my mother and father would have loved him too. He was exactly the kind of man that my father had always dreamed that I would find. Granted he had probably would have wanted me to be older but like I told Edward; life is short and I was not going to waste a minute of it doing what society says is right. I want to live in the ways that make Edward and me happy and do what is best for us. And if getting married quickly and at a young age is what is best then that is what we were going to do.

We chose a beautiful chapel called the Chism House where we could get married outside by a lake. It was beautiful and peaceful and really what I'd always wanted. I'd always imagined that I would get married outside. And just because we were getting a quickie Reno wedding didn't mean that I was doing it cheap. Oh no. I had a beautiful gown and I bought Angela and Diana new dresses for the wedding. Reverend Webber was insisting that as the "father" of the bride he get to pay for our wedding dinner. I knew that he was a little disappointed that he would not be able to officiate so he at least wanted to contribute something.

So here I was on Saturday afternoon getting my makeup and hair done for my wedding. It was still amazing to believe that we were getting married. That he proposed at sunset overlooking the Grand Canyon. Some one had been nice enough to take a picture of him down on his knee in front of me. We found it outside our hotel room door the next morning. He didn't send that one to his family. He said he wanted to wait until after the wedding.

"What do you think Sweetie?" The makeup artist broke me out of my train of thought.

"It's amazing. Thank you."

"Bella you are going to be a beautiful bride." Diana said while dabbing the tears away that were forming by her eyes. "Bella it's going to be a beautiful wedding and I am so happy for you. But Angela don't you even think of Vegas or Reno, your father would have a fit if you weren't married in his church. He is already trying to figure out how he is give you away and officiate at the same time!"

"We have time to figure it out. We're not even ready to set the date."

"Bella, we need to get going or we will be late and cause your Edward to have a panic attack thinking you ran."

We settled with the cashier and took off to the chapel. We saw William outside immediately as we got there waiting for us. As we approached him I realized that there was something I needed from them. They always told me that they loved me like a daughter now I was going to ask them to do something that any parent would do for their daughter. We were ushered into a side room that we could use to change into our dresses and a half an hour later we were ready. I was ready. I was going to become Mrs. Bella Cullen. As I walked out of the chapel to where Edward was waiting for me, escorted by William and Diana, I looked up and saw that Edward had tears in his eyes. As we made it to where he stood with the Pastor that officiates here, he leaned down and whispered "You are so beautiful, my Bella, this is the happiest day of my life."

The ceremony was your ordinary ceremony. We hadn't made any changes or insisted on writing our own vows so I was surprised when the pastor announced that Edward had written a poem that he wanted to read to me. He took my hands and looked into my eyes before reciting the poem that he wrote about his love for me.

"Bella, I was sitting in a dark corner  
When suddenly it hit me  
Just like lighting and thunder  
I knew neither pain or happiness  
My nights were cold and lonely  
My days were short and weary  
I was between shadows and lights  
And came under the impression  
That this life was the only thing given to me  
You took me away from the perilous world  
And turn my so called shelter into a paradise  
I felt tranquility, it was something new to me  
My life blossomed and everything was astounding  
I remember this feeling, this emotion, which was full of devotion  
Love, just extraordinary love."

Now I was crying. I loved him and was going to spend the rest of my life with him. It was hard to believe that this was the same man that I approached in a bar a little over a month ago totally despondent over the idea of getting married because this man was a man in love and happy to be marrying me.

The minister got our attention and pronounced us husband and wife and then he kissed me passionately. After we broke the kiss he laid his forehead against mine "I love you so much Bella. Words can't express what I am feeling right now."

"I know." And as he kissed me again a flock of geese landed on the lake and our wedding was perfect.

Edward had rented a limo to take us from the chapel back to the hotel where we had reservations and the main restaurant. As the driver pulled away Edward looked at me and said about the only thing that would not surprise me at this point. "I called my mom today."

"Oh. How did it go?"

"It went really well. She's sorry for everything and is getting help for her issues."

"That's great Edward. Did you tell her that we were getting married?"

"Yes. And she is happy for us. But Rose is mad at us." I must have looked horror stricken because he continued with a laugh. "Emmett wants to go on a rafting tour now and she won't go until he can figure out how to bring a full bathroom with them with enough extension cords for her to run her hair dryer and curler. She blames us for this."

He told me all about their conversation and that he was happy that he made the call. He felt that he was one step closer to forgiveness. It was a start and I was happy for him for that.

Dinner was a boisterous affair. There was plenty of food, plenty of drink, and plenty of laughter. Before Edward and I retired to our room for the evening we separated long enough to change. Angela and Ben were going to return the tuxes and Diana and William were going to take my dress with them for safe keeping. Tomorrow morning Edward and I would be off to our next destination. This time as husband and wife bound together for the rest of our lives. We didn't know what the future had in store for us or where we'd end up next week, but we'd be there together.

CPOV:

I think that my wife just ruptured my eardrum with her screaming. But I couldn't care less. He called. My Edward, my son, called her. He was safe and happy and getting married. And I do not even know the woman.

It's been hard for the whole family not knowing where he was and knowing that we all contributed to this, his belief that there was no other choice but for him to run from us in the middle of the night.

I always dreamed of one of my children following in my footsteps and becoming a surgeon. Emmett had no interest in the sciences even though he was good at it. And Alice, I pitied her poor science teachers. She was a walking disaster in the lab. It's funny that it was only in that class that she had issues. Things would mysteriously catch on fire or spill all over the place. And no one will forget the fit she had when they placed the frog in front of her for dissection. Edward was my last hope and when he showed more of an interest in writing than science I decided to squash that dream. I'll regret that for the rest of my life. I repeatedly told my children that it was pointless to live with your head in the clouds and think about following dreams. I told them they had to be responsible adults with responsible jobs. I know that my oldest two children are happy but they aren't _happy_. I feel like they are missing something, I just don't know what it is.

We have been receiving pictures of Edward and Bella since they left. She is absolutely breathtaking. He looks so happy in the pictures. He looked happier than I have ever seen him. It's the happiness that I want to see from Emmett and Alice. Esme was freaking out when we didn't hear from him for three weeks. I don't think she slept but a few hours during that time. But we received a new set the other day. They were camping in the Grand Canyon. So close to us but….

Esme and I had a long talk after Edward left. We talked, we yelled, we laughed, and we cried. We admitted our sins in relation to our failure as parents. And we were failures as parents. Esme decided that she was going to seek professional help for her control and separation issues and help in dealing with the grief that she had ignored instead of facing. She didn't know but I was contemplating doing the same. I wanted to start atoning for my sins before it was too late. Until my wife called this afternoon I had feared that it was already too late to atone for things with Edward. She told me that he promised to at least visit. I doubt that he would ever come back to Phoenix to live. He never liked it here and he really didn't need to be here anymore.

Esme and I have been considering a move of our own but she refused to leave her children. She couldn't stand to be far from them. I couldn't even take a trip with her because of her separation issues. I damn near had to sedate her when Emmett and Rose went on their honeymoon. I don't know how she thought she was going to handle Edward being at Dartmouth. But that was a moot point now because he wouldn't be going there. He was going to need to make some big decisions soon and I promised myself that while I would be there to guide him I wouldn't instruct him. I hope that I can stick to that. It's easier said than done. I just miss my son and I want what's best for all of them. And no matter what sins I have committed against him and how much I have hurt him, I will always love him and be proud of him.

A/N:

Ok. It's a little shorter than normal but there's a reason for that. If you don't have me on author alert you may want to do it. There will be a surprise posted tomorrow! Just saying! Have a great week! The poem that Edward "wrote" for Bella was really written by Landsley Alexandre.

Thanks to my amazing beta, AnUnbrokenHorse aka RushtonElf, who gets the chapters back superfast. Even when I gave her an extra file this week.

I started a new blog on blogspot for my stories titles Branson101stories. That is where I will be posting info about the stories that I write. Also remember that I am on twitter as branson101 and facebook as Princess Sam. Those are my baby kitties!


	7. Chapter 7

Because Catmaster and edwardandbella forever updated early and greeneyedgirl17 gave us a wonderful surprise of an IC outtake I am updating tonight instead of tomorrow. You can thank them for the early update!

FYH Chapter 7

Moving On

BPOV:

The Webbers and Ben got up early to see us off the next morning. It wasn't any easier leaving them this time than it was the last time. Edward and I had found our next destination. It was the Wind Walker Ranch in Utah. There was horse back riding, hiking, nature spas, and lessons on the history of the Native American tribes that inhabit the area. Edward and I had really loved that part of the rafting adventure and when we found this place we just had to go.

We were both a little tired from staying up most of the night celebrating our marriage that we were both extremely quiet on the drive. I started considering that I was getting tired of the motorcycle. It was one thing was I was alone but it was still uncomfortable then. But after so many hours on the bike my legs and butt hurt like a bitch. Maybe it was time to trade it in for a sports car. I bet Edward would like that. Oh wait, Edward, my husband Edward. These are the type of things that husbands and wives are supposed to discuss and decide on together, right? Ok. I will just have to bring it up to him tonight and see what he thinks about it.

It took nine hours to get from Reno to Spring City Utah. By the time that we got there we were grimy and dirty and just wanted to fall into bed and sleep. Welcome to married life she laughed out loud at that thought.

"And just what is so funny, my wife? Man, I don't think that I will ever tire of calling you that."

"I hope that you don't. I was just thinking that we are acting like an old married couple too tired to do anything but fall into bed and actually sleep. I mean really Edward, it's only our second night being married and the passion has fizzled already." I teased him.

"We'll see about that 'fizzled passion!" And with that he pounced on me and it was going to be another night with very little sleep. Not that you'd ever hear me complain about that.

The next morning we lay in bed enjoying the peace and quiet. The villa that we reserved was the furthest out from the rest of the lodge, which was probably a really good thing. I would hate to think that we emotional scarred anyone last night, least of all any children. We knew that we were going to have to get going soon to make it to the dining hall before they stopped serving breakfast. We decided to shower together to save time. I think we established before how this was a bad idea. Needless to say, we missed breakfast. But, again there were no complaints from me. Or Edward. He seemed really happy with the ways that I encouraged our delay.

After we finally got something to eat from the snack shop we started heading down to the stables. After I got over my initial fear of the mules at the Grand Canyon, I decided that I liked horse back riding. Even though Edward still called them horrid beasts he wasn't fooling me, I knew he enjoyed riding. So, today we were going on a trail ride.

Today we were just going to take a short ride. We were planning on taking a full day trail ride before we left though. Since we had decided to spend the whole week here we figured that we had time. It was a beautiful place to see though. The mountains were gorgeous and the woods were so serene. I wouldn't mind finding a place like this to settle down. I wondered immediately what kind of place Edward saw himself settling at.

Again that was something that we would need to discuss together. But now wasn't the time. Now was for enjoying each other company and the peace of the wilderness as we let the trained horses carry us through the woods.

It was October and the trees had begun to change colors and the temperatures were getting cooler. This was more obvious to us as we just came from the hot desert. Another reason to trade in the Ducati, winter was coming and we were heading into the Midwest. That I would definitely bring up tonight. We needed to find out what each other wanted and didn't want in a vehicle. Wow. This was going to be our first major purchase together. I was a little worried about having this discussion. It was about the only thing that my parents ever fought over.

Mom tended to want to get frivolous and get a lot of bells and whistles on a new car and Dad was really conservative and never wanted to spend the extra money we didn't have. In the end, though, they would compromise. Mom would list the extras she really wanted and Dad try to get some of them for her without over extending their budget. It's not like Mom was a big spender or cared what others thought about her car. But, when you never have much sometimes you want to splurge a little. There was no harm in that and I think that is why Dad gave in as much as he could.

We returned from our trail ride in time to head for lunch and then we were intending to just sit outside our villa and just enjoy the afternoon. I have to say though that the beef stew that they served us for lunch had to be by far the best that I ever had.

EPOV:

I don't know about Bella but I was going to have to start working off these big meals that I was eating. Maybe we could take walks after supper every night. That would be nice and it could be something that we could continue to do even after we stop traveling and buy a house somewhere. I can see that so clearly, Bella, myself, and our children.

We sat on the porch swing enjoying watching the families walk in the distance, headed to various activities that were offered by the ranch. I knew that something was bothering Bella, she had been quieter than normal all day and I wasn't about to let my wife be upset and quiet. We needed to learn to communicate these things with each other and there was no time like the present.

"Bella, is there something wrong honey? You've been awfully quiet all afternoon."

"Nothing's wrong Edward, I'm fine. But there is something that I want to talk to you about."

"Anything, Sweetheart."

"I think we need to think about trading in the bike."

"Really? I thought you loved the bike?"

"I do but it's not going to practical soon…" She went on to explain her reasons for wanted to get rid of the bike and I agreed with her that we needed a more winter appropriate vehicle but I really didn't see the need to get rid of the bike all together either. It wasn't like we couldn't afford to keep the bike and buy a new car outright.

"How about we buy the new car and keep the bike? I love the bike just as much as you do."

"Well, we could. But what would we do with the bike while we're still traveling?"

"We could store it in Phoenix."

"How are we going to get the bike to Phoenix?" I knew that there were two ways of getting the bike to Phoenix. The first way of getting it there was that we take it ourselves and the second way being calling Emmett and Rose to come get it. They were licensed to drive motorcycles and it would be safe for them. They'd probably even enjoy it a lot. I was more inclined to go the second route and even at that I knew that I had the option of not seeing them if I didn't want to. We could just leave the bike at the dealership or whatever hotel we stayed at and have them pick it up.

"That's rude Edward and you know it." Bella exclaimed when I told her my ideas. "The least we can do is to be there when they arrive. We don't have to spend a lot of time with them if you don't want to."

"I know honey. You're right. But first things first we have to actually decided when and where we are going to buy the car then I'll call Emmett."

"And we have to decide what we want in a car. There are so many options available I don't even know where to start."

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what we were wanting in a car. Which features we wanted, the ones that we had to have, and which features we absolutely refused to have on our car. We managed to agree that a four door would be more convenient and eventually decided that a SUV would be the best idea since we were planning on driving places where there would be snow and ice. Now we just needed to decide on a make and model.

The rest of the evening after dinner we spent exploring the ranch and deciding what we were going to do the next day. We found out that there was a learning expedition on Native American culture that was going to take all day that sounded like a lot of fun. There was even to be a ceremonial dinner that evening with story telling.

The next day we met up with the other guests that were participating in the day long workshop at the main guest house. One of the lessons that we were going to be taught was traditional dances. That was a lot of fun, even Bella enjoyed herself. That took the whole morning. After a traditional lunch of Elk and pine nuts cooked over an open fire along with some fruit we spent the rest of the afternoon learning Native American crafts such as weaving. While some people made dream catchers, Bella and I decided on making something a lot more practical. We made a basket together. I was a beautiful rose and grey and we made it in the shape of a heart weaving initials into the bottom.

Later that evening, while we sat by the fire waiting for the supper to cook, we watched dancers do some of the traditional dances that they had tried to teach us that morning. It was an amazing scene to behold with all the dancers in traditional outfits. Then they told us a series of traditional tales, one of which was called "The Two Grandsons." It was a tale about two boys that go hunting in the woods alone and the trouble that they get into. The younger boy was afraid of the elk that they were attempting to hunt and ended up scaring the animal off three times before the they older boy tied the younger one up and was able to kill the elk. Then the younger boy did not want to help cook it nor did he want to walk home that night, despite the older brother's warning about the dangers that the woods held. The younger boy awoke hungry in the middle of the night and went to fix himself something to eat. The fire attracted a man that approached the younger boy and carried him off into the woods. The older boy was annoyed with the younger one and ignored his pleas for help. When he awoke that morning and found the younger boy missing he went home to get help. The tale went on about how their grandfather resurrected the younger boy. It was mesmerizing to watching the story tellers go on in such animation.

The rest of the week we spent taking more trail rides and by the time that was over a day at the resort's spa for a massage was definitely needed. There also was a lot of time taken for nature walks and being alone in our beautiful villa.

We had narrowed down the choices for the new car we wanted to three different ones; the Nissan Xtera, the Dodge Journey, and the Chevy Tahoe; but we wanted to be able to look at them and test drive them before we made any real decisions. So, a couple nights before we left I sat down to make another phone call. While I wasn't dreading this one like the last, it still wasn't an easy call to make.

"Hello?" The voice of my sister-in-law Rosalie came through when she answered my brother's cell phone.

"Hey Rose, its Edward."

"HOLY SHIT EMMETT! GET OUT HERE NOW!"

"Geez Rose, between you and mom I'm going to end up deaf."

"Sorry, but he is in the shower. We're getting to go to Mom and Dad's for dinner. It's their anniversary today."

"I know and we have something for them, too." 

"Mom told us that you were marrying Bella. Is she there?" I told her that Bella was sitting right next to me and she insisted on being put on speaker phone.

"Bella," Rose started. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much for whatever you did to save Edward from that wretched woman. You stepped up and helped him where we all failed him. So again, thank you and welcome to the family. Emmett's here. I'll put him on."

"Edward, where the hell are you?" To which I heard a thwack come from Rose and her hissing at him not to scare me off again. "Sorry Edward. But we all miss you and we want you to come home."

"Emmett, I'm not sure I'm ever going to come home to Phoenix to live, but I did promise Mom we'd visit. But, I do have a favor to ask of you if you're willing. Well, it's something I need you and Rose to do for us."

"Of course, Edward, what do you need?"

"Well, you see…" I went on to explain about the Ducati and how impractical it was about to become and how we wanted them to fly up to meet us in Salt Lake City and drive the bike back to Phoenix for safe keeping in their garage.

Needless to say Emmett and Rose were thrilled at the idea of meeting us and more importantly meeting Bella. They were the first in the family to talk to her and they got along really well with her and seemed to really like her. It made me really hope that I could possibly be able to live near my family again in the future and be able to trust that they were going to allow me to live my own life and make my own decisions with only the input of my wife. We told them which hotel we were staying at and we agreed to spend the weekend together visiting before Bella and I took off again. I asked them to wish Mom and Dad a happy anniversary for us and then we ended the call. I was actually really looking forward to seeing them again and spent the rest of the evening bouncing around the villa until Bella grabbed me and insisted I put my pent up energy to better use. Yeah, like I was going to argue with that.

A/N

Ok. Citations first.

The Ute Indians did/do live in the Utah area. I did a general search though to find the story that I put in this chapter as well as the food that they served. I mean no offense if I had incorrect information. Here are the websites that I used:

http:/www(.)indigenouspeople(.)net/twogrand(.)htm

http:/www(.)bigorrin(.)org/ute_kids(.)htm

http:/www(.)windwalker(.)org/nativeamerican(.)html (the resort they stayed at)

If you haven't seen it yet, I posted an outtake as a separate story called FYH outtakes. It's the scene where Edward's siblings confront Tanya after the wedding is cancelled. Fair warning: there is swearing and violence going on in it. As always follow me on twitter as branson101, on Facebook as Princess Sam (those are my baby kitties!), and I started a new blog on blog spot for my stories called Branson101stories. I am posting info there as well as teasers. I don't know when I'll get to write it but this chapter has inspired me to write two more outtakes; Emmett's POV of retrieving the Ducati and their drive back to Phoenix and their parent's anniversary dinner. So keep an eye out for those.


	8. Chapter 8

FYH Chapter 8

I won't!

EPOV:

Why did I think that I could do this? Why did I think that I even wanted to? What the _HELL_ made me think that this was a good idea? Yes, I know it's childish but I didn't see any harm in hiding in my bed. I'd be hiding under my bed but it's a hotel and that would be just way too gross and disgusting.

"Come on Edward, you need to stop this! We need to make a decision." We had come to Salt Lake City yesterday and immediately went to look at the three vehicles that we were interested in. Now we had to decide which one to buy, what options we wanted, colors, and how we were going to pay for it. Not to mention which one of us would pay for it or would we split the cost in half. The list of questions that Bella was demanding that we answer seemed endless. My head was hurting from all the questions flying at me from Bella and I was so completely overwhelmed and I didn't know what to do. So I was hiding in my bed. We are talking under the blankets with a pillow over my head.

They were all nice cars. But I didn't know how to make such a big decision and I just wanted Bella to decide what we were going to get and just be done with it. But she wasn't having any of that. No, she was insistent that I be part of the decision and that I get what I wanted too. I knew that her reasoning stemmed deeper than just getting a car we both liked. She knew what I liked well enough to do that on her own. No, this was about me taking control and making the decisions that affected my life for once. To learn not to let others push me into anything I did not want.

I really wanted to tell her if that was the case then I wanted to run away before my brother got here too. I only agreed to meet with him because Bella said it would be rude not to. I was excited at first, because I do miss him, but now I am scared. The what if's kept flying through my head. What if he's mean to me? What if he's mean to Bella? What if he tries to guilt me into coming home? I didn't think I be able to hold my own with him if he started pushing for me to come again.

"I swear to God, Edward, if you don't sit up and take part in this I am going to have them specially paint it hot pink with flowers all over it!" That got me to sit up at least.

"FINE!"

"It's not like you're making a life or death decision here. We are just picking out a car together. Now, which one did you like the best?"

"I don't know. I liked all of them."

"Edward." She fell back on the bed in exasperation covering her head with the pillow.

"You know, couldn't we both hide in the bed together and forget about all of this? Preferably in a naked state?"

"If you don't start helping me make this decision it is going to be a long time before you see me naked again."

"The Journey. I liked the Dodge Journey."

"See, now was that so hard that you had to have me on the verge of an aneurism and a stroke for the last two hours."

"I'm not good at this. What if I am wrong and it's a terrible car and you don't like it then it will be my entire fault. And then we'd be stuck living with my mistake and…"

"Edward. It's a car. If we decide that we don't like it for what whatever reason, we can trade it in for something else. And besides I wanted that one too. Now what color do we want? I liked the black."

"I liked the silver one."

"Ok. I liked the silver too, but I also liked the blue…Did you want the sun roof?"

"Yes. My car back home has a sun roof and I really like it. That is a must. The blue one was nice too. What about that remote starter thing the guy was talking about? Want that added?"

"I don't know, Edward, is it necessary?" 

"Bella, the reason we are getting a new car is that we are going to be traveling in winter. Do you want to be the one to go out into the cold mornings to start warming the thing up or do you want to be able to just walk to the window in our warm room and push a button?"

"Well, we you put it that way a remote starter is an absolute necessity."

"Ok, that's settled. But there's still the issue of the color. I like the silver and the blue. I just don't know which one I like better. Can we wait and go back and look at them both again. Maybe drive them both to see which one we like better?"

"That sounds like a good idea actually because I'm not sure which one I like better either. Now will you please get naked and come to bed with me." I wasn't above begging, not one little bit.

The next morning brought on a new round of anxiety. Emmett and Rose were arriving today. When Bella suggested that we asked them to come along to the dealership I must have turned green or something because she looked alarmed and backtracked.

"You know, Edward, if you really don't want to see them we don't have to. I'm sure they'll understand if we cancel or maybe just I could go. Just…you decide Edward, if you really don't want to do it then don't. I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do or that you are not ready for."

Was I being that much of a baby that she'd offer to go alone just to make me feel better? Canceling was not an option either though. Emmett had done his share to hurt me too, but I couldn't cancel. I wasn't a cruel person, spineless yes, but not cruel. I knew that she was just trying to give me an out. But there wasn't really one now.

"We'll meet with them but I think, maybe, could I wait to think about inviting them to the dealership. Let's see how things go first. Ok?"

"That is absolutely fine, Edward. Whatever you decide will be fine with me."

"I guess that means that I have to get out of bed and shower now, huh? Want to join me?"

"Edward, you and I both know that if I get into that shower with you we will never make it out of here. Now get going!" She gave me a kiss and walked over to her suitcase to pick out an outfit to wear while made my way into the bathroom.

A couple of hours later we were standing in the hotel lobby waiting for them to show. Seeing as we still had only the bike we all decided that it would be easiest to meet them at the hotel.

I saw them before I heard them, which is surprising when it came to Emmett. He's always been louder than he is large and that is say something when it comes to him. Bella was standing by my side when they came into view, holding my hand. As soon as they saw us Emmett came barreling over towards us, shoving me out of the way and grabbing Bella in a crushing hug kissing her on repeatedly on the forward saying "thank you" over and over.

Rose walked up to where we were, looking at me where I was still sitting on the ground, a little stunned at being knocked down. "Are you just going to sit there all day or are you going to get up off your ass and hug your favorite sister-in-law? And Emmett, put that girl down, the word terrified doesn't even begin to describe the look on her face."

As I stood up Rose grabbed me into a hug, "I am so happy for you, Edward, and proud. We all are." And I knew then that all my worrying and fretting about how they were going to be when they got here was for nothing. Things were going just fine.

We went into one the hotel restaurants, Spencer's, for lunch. It was a little awkward at first, Bella still looked a little scared of Emmett at this point and no one really knew where to start the conversation at the moment. But Emmett found the perfect ice breaker.

"So, Bella, you ride a bike huh? But are you a true biker babe?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to be a true biker babe, you have to have leather, whips, and chains?" Rose chimed in.

"Well, I have the leather, no chains, unfortunately, and as for the whips, only in the bedroom and do you really want to know more than that about your brother's sex life?"

Emmett smirked at her, and then looked at me, "I like her. She's spunky!" And I couldn't agree with him more. That is why I loved this woman so much.

"So, tell me more about this trip? It sounds exciting to me?" Rose asked her.

"Well, my parents never had much money and never got to travel outside Washington. They always told me that they wanted me to get out of Washington to see the world and explore beyond our little town. So, after I got the settlement, I decided to do just that. I felt it was like honoring their last wishes for me, you know?"

"I completely get that. Do you know everywhere you guys are going to?"

"Oh no. Nothing has been planned." I went on to explain to them about how we just pull out the computer and research the next state to see if there is anything interesting we want to see. Like our next destination is a brewer's festival in Cheyenne Wyoming.

"So tell us about the wedding? Where was it?"

"We got married in Reno Rose." And then Bella and I told them all about the wedding. Neither of us could miss the way their faces fell when Bella told them how I made sure the Webbers were there for the wedding.

"I'm sorry I didn't…" I started but Emmett interrupted me.

"Edward, I am not going to pretend that anyone isn't a little hurt at missing your wedding. We are. But we also understand. We all did so many things to hurt you. Thing we said, things we did, and things that we didn't say but should have. I am glad that things did go down the way that they did and Rosie didn't have to go through with her plan." I was shocked to hear that she intended to tell all our friends and family that she and I were having an affair and she was pregnant with my child. That she loved me enough to humiliate herself and risk her relationship with Emmett to get me out of that marriage. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.

"I never thought that…I thought you two hated me for what I did."

They both sighed and Emmett looked at me. "We never hated you, Edward. We were angry about being separated and Mom's behavior just made it easier to blame you for it. It was never your fault. You were ten and got lost because no one was watching you as closely as we should of."

Emmett and Rose apologized for all the times that they made me feel bad and were mean and hurtful while I was growing up and I accepted their apologies. Then we talked about lighter subjects for the rest of the meal. We talked about the night of our parent's anniversary. I told them about the basket that Bella and I had made for them at the ranch that we were just at. We showed them the pictures of the wedding and Rose gushed at Bella in her dress. We laughed out butts of when Emmett showed us the pictures of Tanya and her sisters after _MY_ sisters got through with them.

There was so much to forgive and I knew that I was ready to forgive my brother. I knew that it would be easier to enjoy our trip and grow more confident if I let go of the past so I was going to try my hardest. I still had things to work on with my sister and parents, but that would come with time.

"What are you smiling about?" Bella asked me suddenly looking at me with the most breathtaking smile of her own.

"Blue," was all that I said. It was all that I needed to say.

A/N:

OK. Things are getting really busy right now. But I do have new hours at work that should hopefully make life easier. It's streamlining my day and getting me out earlier. I am sorry if things were repetitive of previous chapters I tried to keep that as minimal as possible but it was unavoidable. They had to have something to talk about at lunch. Teaser will be posted at Just a Sip, fictionators, pictease, and my blogspot Bransonstories101. Also follow me on twitter as Branson101 and Facebook as Princess Sam. Have a great week! Oh and the Cheyenne brewer's festival is actually held in June but since it is October for this story and October is the month of Octoberfests and beer I changed it to suit my needs.


	9. Chapter 9

FYH Chapter 9

Reconciliations and Departures

BPOV:

After I got over the initial shock of being attacked in a hotel lobby by a huge man that I now know to be my brother in law the day with them was rather nice. I have to admit that I was just as scared to meet with them as Edward was. From the conversation that I had had with them on the phone the other day they sounded rather nice, nicer than Edward made them out to be, but then again the experiences he had with them had made him jaded in his opinion of them.

Edward was having such a hard time helping me make the decision as to which car we were going to get and that stemmed from never having made a decision even remotely close to this size for himself before. So, I pushed him. I wanted a partner, an equal partner, in life, not someone that I controlled. I was not his mother nor was I Tanya.

During lunch they all managed to hash out a lot of things between them and Edward finally was in a place emotionally that he was really ready to move on. I knew it when he said "blue". He was ready to try to put the past behind them and move onto the future. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that all was going to be perfect with his family from here on, but things were going to get better. There was still a strain when they told us about everything that had been going on with the family, especially when it came to discussing their parents.

They told us about the anniversary dinner that his parents had, and how, unlike previous years it was just family only. Edward had started to look upset before Rose stopped him in his tracks.

"Edward, don't you dare feel guilty about them not throwing a party. They are dealing with a lot of things right now, especially Mom. And yes, some of it has to do with you but not because of you or anything that you did. Actually, you taking off may have been the best thing that you could have done for the family. Mom is finally taking steps to heal from those losses and that is a good thing."

"That is a very good thing Edward, and we wanted to tell you that, well, we decided to follow our dreams as well." Emmett continued, "We are going to open a vintage auto repair and body shop. We've always wanted to but…"

"But what?"

"But we were afraid to tell Dad and that he'd make a big deal out if it be mad and say that we were being irresponsible and foolish. You know Dad may have been trying to drill it into you to keep your head out of the clouds but we were affected by that shit too."

Edward looked taken aback by his brother's confession that his parents' behavior towards him had affected everyone. He wasn't the only one that was afraid to follow his dreams and just be happy. I must have looked rather pissed off at this point because Rose reached over and took my hand, "they aren't bad people, Bella, and I know that you can't have gotten a great impression of them, or any of us for that matter so far, but you haven't seen the good parts, their compassion, and their love for their family."

"They have a strange way of showing their children that they love them."

"They have made some huge mistakes, but they want to atone for them. They are seeking help to learn how to do so. Please give them a chance."

"You're right that I haven't gotten the best first impression of them, especially your mother and I just can't understand how a mother treats her children that way. I can't understand why everyone just sat back and condoned this behavior."

They all sat in silence for a moment before Edward finally spoke up; "It wasn't right that anyone condoned the way that I was treated. But, in all, I didn't stand up for myself either. I allowed it to happen. I let everyone that said they loved me walk all over me and push me around. I need to own my part of this and admit my fault too."

"Edward you didn't…"

"Didn't what Emmett? Didn't stand up for myself? Didn't tell my mother to back off and let me make my own choices, especially regarding the woman that I was going to marry? That _she_ wanted me to marry but I could not stand? I allowed all of it to happen."

"That's true Edward, you did. But it never gave any of us the right to treat you like we did." Rose spoke up. "What _is_ important though is that you finally found the courage to do so and that you did it before it was too late. We are all so proud of you, Edward, and so happy that you finally found your peace and happiness with Bella."

"Thank you, Rose. I really needed to hear that. Just out of curiosity, though, how did Tanya take the news that I found someone a hell of a lot better?"

Both Emmett and Rose looked at each other and started laughing hysterically at what had to be some inside joke until finally Emmett pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I would have sent these to you but you left your phone behind." On his phone were pictures of three women that definitely looked like they had been attacked by something.

"What the hell happened to them?" Edward finally got out, having joined in on the laughter at seeing the pictures.

"Rose and Alice happened to them. They tried to attack Jasper and me and they defended us. Jasper even threatened them that he wasn't afraid of going to jail for beating on them if they continued their attempts to attack us. In the end they ended up getting their asses handed to them and they were the ones spending the night in jail." 

"They went to jail? For what? Assault?"

"No, actually it was failure to pay their hotel bill." Emmett went on to explain that their Dad made an arrangement with the hotel manager so that he would tell them that they needed to pay for their rooms and per the arrangement if they did not produce the money then the manager would call the police and have them arrested. As long as the manager held the charges over night their dad would tip him $1000 and then pay the bill. Of course the manager was more than happy to oblige the deal.

I was really conflicted about Edward's family at this point. I knew that most of the thing that I knew of them came from Edward's jaded opinion and the crappy things that they had done and their abhorrent treatment of him growing up, and then you have the things that they have been doing lately. Stories like these make me believe that they were good people underneath all the crap on top. Everyone makes mistakes it's what you learn from those mistakes and take with you that count and how you change to prevent making the same mistakes again. It led me to wonder about the Newton's and if they had ever learned their lessons. Were they sorry for mistakes that they made? Were they sorry at all for taking my parents from me? Or we're they still just angry at me for suing them?

EPOV:

The time that we had with Emmett and Rose went a lot better than I had hoped for. We invited Emmett and Rose to go along with us to the dealership to look at the car that we were going to get but they declined wanting to rest before we met up again to spend the evening together.

Something had dawned on me during the afternoon that we spent together at lunch, that I owned some of the blame for my mother having that much control over me. I had always hated how controlling she was with me but I never made her stop. Sure, I had tried to tell her that I was unhappy, but then she'd start crying and dad would give me angry looks for upsetting her and I would cave. I would love to say that I would never let that happen again, but who would I be fooling? I know that it is going to take a lot of time and patience for me to gain some self confidence.

After we test drove and purchased our new blue Dodge Journey, Bella and I made our way back to the hotel to clean up before we had to meet Emmett and Rose. Rose was being really sweet to Bella and I knew that they genuinely liked each other. Bella didn't necessarily care for my mother at this point and that was ok with me right now. Yeah, I know, I am still a little bitter.

We all had a lot of fun that evening even though I could tell when we met up that Emmett and Rose had been crying. We kept it simple that night and just went for pizza and then mini golf and then back to the hotel to share some of the baked goods that my mom had sent us. She had sent almost all of my favorites and a lot of them at that.

I had absolutely no idea that Bella was that competitive. Her and Emmett got into several arguments about the rules and posture and accusing the other of cheating. But as they were both in fits of laughter the whole evening, I think it was all in jest. I think. I hope. Although she did smack him upside the head once which made Rose start laughing so hard she had to sit down on the ground for a minute to recover. In the end Emmett and Bella ended up tying for the win. I think that it was the first time that I have every spent so much time with my brother and really was able to relax and enjoy myself.

As we stood in the parking lot of the restaurant where we ate breakfast ready to part ways Emmett grabbed me into a hug. "Edward, I love you. You know that right? Rose and I and everyone we love you and no matter what you decided to do or where you go that won't change and we'll stand behind you all the way." We were both crying at this point and he let me go and grabbed Bella into a hug and made her promise to take care of me.

They watched as Bella and I got into the car and drove away. I took out the new cell phone that I had purchased the night before and sent a text to Emmett saying that I loved him too.

The pictures of Tanya and her sister were priceless not to mention the fact that my dad had her arrested. I can safely say that she got exactly what she deserved. Even with her infidelity and horrid behavior I was starting to feel bad about the way that I had ended things with her.

"Love, honestly, do you think that I am a coward?"

"Honestly? No, I do not think that you are a coward. I do think that you have an issue with self confidence, though."

"But, I ran away." I looked down at my lap.

"Yes, you did. But, I don't think that staying would have been the answer either. I think that it was braver of you to come with me than staying behind at dealing with all that."

"But that's my point. I left my family to clean up that mess for me." 

"It was a mess that they made, Edward, not you. It was their responsibility to clean that up and from the pictures that we saw it looked like they had a lot of fun doing it too."

"Yeah, they did. Can we talk about one more serious thing for a moment?" 

"Sure. What?"

"I have thought about this and I do not want to return to Phoenix to live when we are done with this trip." I went on to explain how, while I was working on forgiving and repairing my relationship with my family, I did not want to live that close to them at this point. I still did not trust them not to meddle in our lives and I wanted space. She asked if I wanted to go to college and neither of us were too sure that we did. We didn't need the money that a college education would bring us in our careers that was for sure. And Bella did not want to return to Washington on a permanent basis either. So we decided that for the remainder of our trip we would take time to look at the various places that we were visiting for possible places to make our home.

A/N:

Ok. I realized something while writing this chapter…this story is going off in a direction that is completely different than I originally intended. But that's ok and I am going to let it. I still stand behind my very little angst promise, but mostly at the moment the story is going to be about Edward rebuilding ties with his family while he discovers himself with Bella. I do also promise that there will be no cliff hangers or major fights that span chapters. I will resolve things each chapter. Now, I am off to start the out take. Oh, one other thing that I must mention. I am moving up the update day to Monday. Tuesday's are too busy right now with work and class. Also, there will be no update next week. I have an auditing exam on Tuesday 9/21 and need to focus on that. I also have a case presentation to prepare for corporate strategy the following Wednesday 9/29. I will let you know via twitter (branson101) and the blog (bransonstories101) on blogspot if there will be any further delays.

Two mentions here. First goes to my beta AnUnbrokenHorse aka RushtonElf for prereading and betaing the chapters for me so quickly and another thank you goes out to NikkiPattinson my twilighted validation beta who rec'd my story in her latest update of Turn to Stone, which by the way if you are not reading that you really need to, it's amazing. And a third thank you to everyone that leaves a review. You really make my day brighter and make me smile.


	10. Chapter 10

FYH Chapter 10

Beer Gardens and Icy Mountains

As we progressed in our drive to Cheyenne things the atmosphere in the car became lighter and more jovial. He felt guilty and I knew it. I mean I know that I would have been pissed if he had ran out of our wedding like he did with Tanya, not that she deserved any courtesy at all or that staying and dealing with it himself would have solved anything at all. His mother had had too much control over him. There was no way that she would have listened or let him go if he had stayed and confronted them. I told him that it was better this way. His mother is getting help and working through her issues. And he is getting stronger and learning find the real Edward that was buried deep down beneath the Edward that his parents had created out of their selfishness.

I don't _want_ to hate my mother in law but from what I have heard about her from Edward; it's not too easy for me to like her. But I am will to keep an open mind; after all I know that Edward's views are biased by his pain and resentment. The picture I got of Esme from Rose was slightly different. But it all stemmed down to guilt and grief. I know those feelings well. That being said I really am actually looking forward to the day that I can actually talk to her and form my own opinion of her.

As I pulled into Cheyenne I was grateful for being in a car rather than on the bike for once. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bike a lot but riding in a car was much easier on the back and legs. And it was much easier to hold a conversation, too. And it was a lot less dusty.

We were only going to be in Cheyenne for two nights. We were going to check out the beer-fest and then move on. Our next stop was going to be Vale, Colorado to try our hands at skiing. We were going to have to take lessons as neither of us has ever been skiing before but it would be fun anyway.

It was almost dinner time when we finally got settled into our room so we decided to venture out and find someplace to eat and scout out where the beer-fest was going to be. Since we both planned to drink tomorrow we chose a hotel that would be within walking distance of the festival and we were going to stay over that night to sober up before heading out again.

We ended up at a little burger joint not far from the hotel and enjoyed a nice leisurely walk together. It was a nice evening and we enjoyed just being together without the family drama and issues. Not that I didn't absolutely love Emmett and Rose. They were a blast and by meeting them I got to see first hand that they really were sorry and remorseful over the way that they treated Edward.

The next morning we slept in until almost eleven. We had stayed up until nearly two in the morning thoroughly enjoying still being on our honeymoon. After showering and dressing for the day we made our way to the festival grounds. The admission fee covered not only all the beer that we could drink but food as well. Which really was a smart idea as alcohol and an empty stomach can cause a whole slew of problems.

After eating some lunch with a first round of beer we grabbed a second round and wandered over to the stage where they were having entertainment. We watched the entertainment and drank some more for the next few hours. Around supper time we made our way back to the food tent to eat again and then walked back to watch the night time entertainment.

While we weren't completely wasted we were pretty sloshed by the time that we ventured back to the hotel. Sleeping in again we both woke up with nasty headaches and unfortunately we were out of aspirin. So we made stopping at the drug store a priority before leaving town.

Edward decided that it was his turn to drive the Journey. I loved that name; I mean it was so fitting, like it was meant to be or something. So after finally getting back on the road to head to Vail, I took the opportunity to snuggle with my husband as we drove down the highway.

The scenery as we drove up into and through the Rocky Mountains was absolutely breath taking. Even if the sight did make me homesick for sight of the mountains of Washington that I grew up looking at. That is what really gave me my resolve that help Edward resolve his issues with his mother and help to mend their relationship in any way that I could.

I couldn't force him to forgive his mother and want to be close to her but I did know what it was like to lose your parents. I wish more than anything I could tell them that I loved them one more time. I know that they knew that I did but know that they are gone I don't think that I said it to them near enough. I hate that they will never meet Edward or know the happiness that I found with him unless what they everyone always said was right and that your loved ones watch you from heaven.

EPOV:

Skiing! What the ever living hell possessed us to decide to go skiing? I just know that one of us is going to end up severely injured and possibly laid out in a hospital bed for attempting to do this. Neither of us is particularly athletic, at all. Not to mention the cold and snow. I went from living in Los Angeles to living in Phoenix, Arizona. I've never spent time in the cold weather, ever.

The main reason that I agreed to this was that I have never once in my eighteen years seen one flake of snow. I know it is a bit hypocritical of me to want to see snow but not have to deal with cold weather. But when you're used to the desert heat the prospect of freezing your ass off flying down a mountain with two pieces of metal strapped to your feet is a little daunting.

Ok. I will admit it. I am only doing this for Bella. She wanted to learn to ski and I am not going to deny her that because of my hang ups on cold weather. Of course Bella had to promise to make it up to me. She did point out that cold weather does equal more snuggling in bed to keep warm. That I'd definitely go for. I loved making love to my wife and would use any excuse to do so. I'll never tire of calling her that either. My wife.

We were staying at the Vail Cascade Resort in one of their condos. We chose the Liftside Condos because it had a full kitchen and Bella and I both were dying for some home cooked food for a change. Eating out every meal can get tiresome after a while. And second, they had washers and dryers in the units which were a real blessing as we were both running out of clean clothes and this would be easier than spending the whole day at a Laundromat.

We had stopped at the store on our way up to the resort to pick up some food to stock the kitchen with and Bella was really excited to get back into a kitchen. Apparently she loved to cook and missed it terribly. We also had to stop and buy some new winter clothes. We specifically bought things that would appropriate for skiing and a winter coat for me. I had never had a need to own one in my life.

That night after a wonderful supper, because Bella really was an amazing cook, we settled in on a blanket by the fireplace to enjoy a quiet evening. It was just us, the cake that Bella baked this afternoon and a movie. I noticed that she was being awfully quiet this evening, not that Bella a big talker or anything, it was just obvious that there was something on her mind.

"Bella, love, what's on your mind?" stroking her cheek with the back of my hand.

"I don't know if you really want to know." She was not even making eye contact with me now. Now she had me worried. Had I done something to upset her? Perhaps we were spending too much time together and not enough time apart getting space from one another. I know that we each had habits that irritated each other. I tended to leave clothes on the floor and she always left her cups lying all over the place. I know that we argued about it a little this morning. But I did apologize for her finding my dirty underwear under the bed. I really didn't think that any of the little squabbles that we had had over those issues were that big. But if there something that was bothering and upsetting her then it was bothering and upsetting me.

"If it bothering you then I want to know so that I can fix it. I want you to be happy, sweetie."

"I want to meet your mother." Ok. I was totally not expecting that. Meeting my mother meant actually being in the same city as her. I was really not ready to go there yet.

"You want to meet my mother, like be in the same state, city, _and_ room as her?"

"Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be face to face Edward. A phone call will do."

"Can I ask what brought this on Bella? I thought that you really didn't like her?" 

"That's just it, Edward. I have a bad impression of someone that I never met before. And really, she can't be all that bad. I was just thinking, Rose said that she wasn't really a bad person, just a person that made mistakes, and she is my mother-in-law and I've have never even spoken to her, and being in the mountains made think about…." She trailed off at the end looking like she was ready to cry.

"It made you think about what?"

"My parents and how much I miss them. Edward, I know that they wronged you terribly and there is a long way that all of you have to go before you fully forgive them, but I know what its like to open the door only hear that you've lost your parents and will never get them back. I don't want either of us to regret not making an effort where you're family is concerned. And I think I want to give your mom a chance to change the impression I have of her, herself."

"I understand that, Bella, I do. But, I don't know if I am ready to go there yet, to be face to face with her. I will eventually, but not yet."

"What about just a phone call then? You called her once before. You gave Emmett permission to give her your new number. I think that the fact that she still hasn't called is a major indication that she is trying."

"You're right. She is trying. I'd be willing to do a phone call sometime. I'd like to talk to Dad as well. I can't hide from this forever. But not tonight, Ok?"

"That's fine; it doesn't have to be tonight. I just…thank you, Edward. I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Bella. More than words can say." Then we moved to the bedroom where I held my beautiful wife as we shared stories of our childhoods until she fell asleep. As soon I was sure that she was asleep I grabbed my journal and continued my writing like I did most nights. I wasn't keeping it from Bella; she knew that I was writing. She just understood that I liked to write when it was completely quiet and I could be alone with my thoughts and there would be no distractions. And she was a distraction, albeit a good one, I proved to her three times that afternoon I told her about my night time writing just how distracting she could be.

But tonight the words just weren't coming as easily as they usually did. I had a lot on my mind. First, Bella wanted to have to chance to meet her mother in law. I understood that completely. I really wished that I could have a chance to meet her parents. They sounded like completely amazing people and their death was not just a huge loss for their daughter but their whole town.

The second thing that was weighing on my mind was the impending holiday season. This would be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas that Bella and I would spend together and also the first that I would spend away from my family. It would be her second without her parents but her first without the Webbers. The conflicting joy and sadness that was surging through me was confusing and extremely frustrating.

I did miss my family. It wasn't quite fair to keep them away so much and there was the fact that they had no idea where I was at, and that wasn't quite fair to them either. I knew my parents were worried that something could happen to us and they wouldn't know. Any parent would freak if their kid ran off like I did. And if I am being honest a big part of my silence regarding our destinations was a little bit of vindictiveness on my part. I don't think that my mother knew that I knew that she was planning to have a room in the apartment that Tanya and I were supposed to live in, in New Hampshire. Tanya blurted it out while we were discussing how many rooms the apartment needed. Apparently my mother was going to be visiting us weekly and staying with us. I really should have known that she wasn't going to let me get that far from her. She wouldn't even let Emmett and Alice go to school in California where we still had some family. I just wondered if Dad knew about mom's plans to split her time between Arizona and New Hampshire or if he was kept in the dark just as much as I had been.

I put the journal away as writing tonight was a definite lost cause and concentrated my thoughts on my mother and Bella's request to at least get to meet her over the phone. It was then that I decided that maybe a phone call was a good idea. I really think that I that I needed to confront her about her plans to take up part time residence with Tanya and me and hear for myself what she has to say about that.

The decision to make the call later today finally made, I was ready to settle in a get some sleep. We were going to take our first skiing lessons in the morning and I really didn't want my wife to laugh at me for falling asleep on the lift. Or worse falling off the lift and ending up in the hospital. Though, come to think of it, a broken leg equals bed rest and sponge baths by my gorgeous and sexy wife and suddenly broken bones didn't sound like a bad idea after all.

A/N:

I am back, kind of. I am still amazingly busy with school. An outtake is coming I just need to get time to write it. Actually the list of outtakes is growing. I flubbed a little bit about the skiing season in Colorado. It actually starts in mid November and right now it is mid October in the story. There may also be a couple of minor time jumps coming up. I am talking just weeks here. Nothing major. As always, I am on twitter as branson101 and check out the stories' blog at BlogSpot at branson101stories. I am going to take time every chapter to recommend two authors that I feel deserve it. This week I am choosing Ebalways and Jenny0719. They are both amazing writers and instead of choosing one thing that they wrote I am just going to rec them as authors on the whole.


	11. Chapter 11

FYH Chapter 11

Climbing Hills

EPOV:

I was woken in the morning by the feeling of someone kissing my neck and it only took about half a second from there to realize that it was Bella and that she was naked and somehow, so was I. How she managed that I will never know. I reached my arms around her pulling her closer to me.

"It's about time you woke up. You are such a sound sleeper. Well most of you is, a certain part of you woke up a while ago." She teased me. After thoroughly making love to her we had to rush to get ready to go to our first skiing lesson and to make it on time as we were now running late.

Ok. I think I have to right to complain a little bit here, I was freaking freezing my ass off already and we just started. Not to mention Bella and I were standing in the middle of a bunch of kids taking their first skiing lessons. I leaned into Bella and asked, "If you are from Washington and it's a mountainous region, how is it that you never learned to ski before?" 

"Are you kidding me? There was no way that my parents were going to let me don skis and go flying down a mountainside with my lack of coordination. They wouldn't let me go roller skating or skateboarding either after I ended up breaking my arm and my ankle the very first time they put me on a bicycle." I could stop it. I tried but it happened anyway. My palm hit my forehead.

"And you are just telling me this now as I am about to let you go careening down a hill to your very possible death?"

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm sure that I won't die."

I opened my mouth to say more but didn't get the chance to say anything else to her as the instructor chose that moment to show up and started the lesson. Skiing itself was easier than I thought that it would be. But using the lift wasn't nearly as easy it looked. Bella and the other children had a good time laughing at me when I fell of the lift and landed face first in the snow. It was about three hours later and several successful trips up and down the hill before I managed to get my revenge. I came up to her and wrapped my arms around like I was going to give her a big hug, then I grabbed the collar of her coat and dropped a handful of snow down inside. And that was where I made my big mistake that officially made me that worst husband in the world and effectively ended our skiing adventures. The cold had startled her and she lost her balance and went down. I was in pure shock for a moment as she sat on the ground clutching her ankle. I was apologizing repeatedly as I attempted to get our skis off.

As she sat on the ground I thought that she was crying the way that her shoulders were shaking, but once I got down in front of her I noticed that she was laughing. "Wait til Angela and Ben hears about this one!" By that point we had attracted the attention of several people including the instructor that we had been working with earlier who had thankfully summoned someone with a stretcher to help us get to the infirmary. After several x-rays and even more arguments from Bella about getting the x-rays it was determined that she merely sprained her ankle and was ordered to rest and elevate it as much as possible for the next few days.

She was given a pair of crutches and we made our way back to the condo. I was still apologizing repeatedly but she didn't want to hear it. How could she not be furious at me for causing her bodily injury? She would have been just fine if I hadn't screwed up and caused her to hurt her ankle.

"Edward, stop it. I'm fine."

"Bella, I hardly think that having a sprained ankle constitutes you being fine."

"I may not be 100% healthy and injury free but I am fine. I had a wonderful time skiing and now I am looking forward to spending the next few days on bed rest with my sexy husband. Now I need a bath and I am in desperate need of someone to help me. So are you going to help me or do I need to call back that cute medic that helped us get to the infirmary?" Well of course that got my attention, I knew that she was just joking but there was no way that I was going to let her get away with teasing me like that. I would get her back for that later after a much needed soak in a hot tub of water. I knew that her ankle was in pain but the rest of her had to be just as sore as I was.

I spent the next three days catering to her every whim and desire. Her ankle was feeling so much better that we started going down to the lobby to spend time and we had dinner at the restaurant at the resort several times.

We had heard from our friend Meg, who invited us to St. Louis for this big Halloween bash that they were throwing. Since we still had a little over a week to get there we decided to stop and see Mount Rushmore first then head south to see our friends. We were both really excited to see Meg and David and actually meet Carolyn.

We didn't get a chance to tell Meg that we had gotten married when we were on the phone she was at her fitting for her maid of honor dress and had to get off the phone. But she did get to tell us that the wedding was going to be next August.

But the most important thing that we did do while Bella was laid up was that we called my mother. The call went a lot better than I had expected it too and we got a lot accomplished and finally in the open with the call but it had also pissed me off something terrible. The things that she did to me were just unacceptable and a part of me wanted to never speak to her again. But then I thought about Bella and the fact that her parents were dead and it made me feel guilty. She was right, if I didn't try with my family and something happened to them I would regret it. But at least Bella had a chance to talk to my mother and father and got to "meet" them so to speak. Like my mother said, at least something good came out of this fucked up mess we were in.

BPOV:

I can't believe that I fell and sprained my ankle. I kept trying to tell Edward that it was my luck and coordination that did it and not him putting snow down my shirt, which by the way I still can't believe that he actually did. But skiing was fun and I got a few good runs down before I was put out of commission. So I was still thrilled about how great the day had been.

I called Ben and Ang that night and told them about my little mishap and of course they laughed at me profusely. It really was a classic Bella move and Edward didn't really have anything to do with it, not that he would listen to me. So I sat back and reveled in being pampered for a couple of days because, for one my ankle did hurt and two, it was really nice to be doted on like that for once. It made me wonder though how obsessively and annoyingly attentive when we were ready to start a family and I was pregnant.

Another good thing about be stuck in the room was that Edward called his mom before I got to talk to her. It had really startled me when he got as angry as he did with her when they were talking so I pulled him back to me and started comforting him by running my hand through his hair. I could feel the frustration and anger that he was feeling dissipate by the second. As soon he was a lot calmer but he still was upset with her. He didn't spend all that much time on the phone with her before giving me the phone and taking off to take a shower. I had no idea what she said to him but he would tell me when he was ready. And he definitely was not ready right now.

Esme and I spent a long time on the phone and I have to say that I am very happy that I gave her the chance to make her own first impression on my and I know that the only regret that I have is that I didn't insist on doing it sooner. But then again, I don't think that Edward would have been ready to listen to her side and deal with a lot of the things they needed to before now. And that is all that I am going to about that for now.

Now that my ankle was healed and I returned my crutches to the infirmary as I had no desire to take them with me even though it really was inevitable that I would need them again, possibly soon knowing me we were ready to take off for our next destination. Which just happened to be Mount Rushmore.

I was really excited to go there as I have wanted to go ever since I was a kid but my parents never had the money to go on trips. Being a small town police chief didn't exactly pay well. That is one of the reasons that this trip is so special to me. It is my very first vacation.

And now I had another reason to be excited about the trip as it is now our honeymoon. I never dreamed when I left home that this trip would take the turns that it did or lead me to the love of my life. I truly believe that my parents are watching over me and a guiding me and really did guide me straight to Edward. We had really found each other when we really needed each other, we just didn't know it at the time. I touched on this during that phone call with Esme and our conversation what was said had us both in tears.

We started out of Colorado very early in the morning as we had a long drive ahead of us. Edward was laughing at me saying that I was bouncing around in my seat like a little kid that has had too much sugar for breakfast. At which point I showed him my inner kid and stuck my tongue out at him.

Since it was already going to take all day to drive to Rapid City, South Dakota we decided to just fly through some fast food for meals and to try not to stop any more than necessary. Edward was starting to get a little peeved that nature was causing necessity stops more often than we had originally planned.

I must have fallen asleep somewhere along the way because before I knew it I felt Edward laying me down on a bed. He told me to stay in the room and he would be right back with our bags. I was going to suggest ordering a pizza or something to eat as I was now starving but again he surprised me by already think ahead about dinner. He had apparently run through a Subway and picked us up sandwiches, chips, and he got me one of those huge dill pickles that he new that I loved.

After eating, we each took a hot shower and fell into bed too tired to do anything else that required energy. The next day we were going to head down to see the monument and I had already spent a good portion of the drive clearing up the memory cards for the camera. I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of room to take a zillion pictures of us at the monument.

A/N: REALLY IMPORTANT:::

Ok. Now that I have your attention, yes this is a little shorter than I intended but I am giving you a really good outtake this week and after editing I managed to add about 500 words. I have made the decision that only Edward and Bella POV's will be posted in the main story and everyone else that wants a say will be in the Outtakes, that is why the phone call was not detailed in this chapter. It is being written from Esme's POV and it is long. You know where to find me between chapters! Enjoy!


	12. Chapter 12

FYH Chapter 12

Passion

BPOV:

Our time in South Dakota went pretty quickly. Really there wasn't much to do there so we only spent a couple of days at the monument before heading south to St. Louis. It was going to take us a couple of days to get there so we had plans to stop in Omaha for a night and then in Branson for a couple of days. Neither of us was into country music at all but there was supposed to be a great amusement park in town that we wanted to try out.

Edward was still worried about me being on my ankle too much and risking hurting it again but I promised him that it was fine and if it hurt too much I would find a place to sit down for a bit.

We got into Omaha late on Wednesday evening. We found a Hampton inn right off of the interstate that had a McDonalds basically right outside the parking lot. But what was most interesting that we found there was the Henry Doorly Zoo. I googled it after we got settled into the room. It was no where as big as the San Diego Zoo but was supposed to be one of the top ten in the United States. It was actually listed as number eight. San Diego was number one on the list.

So we decided to extend our stay in Omaha so that we could tour the zoo. It was actually pretty cool and very innovative. There was a two floor rainforest that you walked through on dirt paths with very little barriers between you and the animals. Then there was the desert dome. It was set up the same way as the jungle was.

One of the best parts was the orangutan habitat. We were told it was only about a year or two old, it boasted to be a habitat where the humans were caged and the animals were free. It was odd to be inside a building watching gorillas playing outdoors. The scariest part was in the aquarium. There was this tunnel, exactly like the one in Jaws 3, that we had to walk through and yes there were sharks swimming around in there. We didn't stay in there long.

We were so exhausted by the time that we left the zoo we were glad that our hotel was basically right across the street from the zoo. We crashed into bed after a not so quick joint shower and were ready to get back on the road again in the morning.

We figured on it being about an eight hour drive from Omaha to Branson so we spent the time talking about where we saw our futures together. He had mentioned before that he wanted us to choose to live somewhere that we had visited and liked a lot, but we hadn't found anything yet. I loved Vail, but there was no way I wanted to live there. But today he told me that he had no way he was going to return to Phoenix to live. What ever his mother had said to him on the phone had cemented that decision for him.

I asked him about visiting Phoenix and he said he'd visit his family but he just didn't have any desire to live that close to them again. I know he meant that he had no desire to live that close to his mother again. She had seemed so nice and repentant on the phone when I talked to her and I wanted to say that to Edward but I held my tongue. It was not me that she had wronged to terribly.

The rest of the drive after that conversation was relatively peaceful and quiet. Pulling into Branson was a pure shock to the system. We had become accustomed to open roads and hardly any traffic. And now we were stuck in a traffic jam from hell. We were positive that there had to have been some type of fatal accident or something for the traffic to be so backed up at seven at night.

We were hungry so we pulled into a fast food joint called Steak n'shake for supper. We overheard some people complaining about the traffic and we inquired if they knew why it was so backed up and they looked at us as though we were insane.

"It's your first time here isn't it?" One of them asked. When we answered that it was they started out right laughing at us. One lady took pity on us and told us that after the shows start at eight the traffic will die down a little—but not much. Then they pulled out this map and started on about red routes and blue routes and asking where we had reservations at. When we told them we didn't have reservations they laughed at us again.

A gentleman in the crowd asked how long we were in town for, we told them that we were only stopping for a couple days on our way to St. Louis and he told us that he did maintenance for one of the cabin resorts and that a customer had cancelled last minute and he could get us in.

Accepting that offer started another round of colored route options and one heated debate on which one would be the best for us to take. I made the mistake of asking where the closest Wal-Mart with a photo lab was and got pointed in four different directions. Why the fuck would a town of 7000 need four damn Wal-Mart's! But we just thanked everyone for their immense kindness and departed to find these cabins.

They were right on this lake and we had the most amazing view of the lake right from our porch. Since it was still rather early we went to a Wal-Mart that was in the other direction from the town that we just came from. We picked up some food, some wine, and had some pictures developed.

From my research on the amusement park that we were going to, Silver Dollar City, there was a post office in the park so we were going to mail the pictures to Angela and his family from there. While at Wal-Mart I picked up a throw blanket to cover with in the car during these long drives. We spent the rest of the evening on our little porch, drinking wine, and cuddling in the cool October night air. And that was when he told me what his mother had done to him.

EPOV:

My conversation with my mother was days ago but I was still as livid as I was that night. How could she? Why would she hurt me like that? It was taking all the resolve that I could muster to not call her back and tell her to go to hell. But that would hurt everyone and I had resolved to find a way to forgive her but if she dropped another bombshell like that I may just have to cut ties for my sanity.

Our arrival in Branson was a real lesson in humility and planning. We had no idea that there would be that many tourists here in October. There were families here for Christ's sake. Why weren't these kids in school? After a trip to Wal-mart that included picking up some liquor we sat on the porch swing and I enjoyed holding her in my arms. I finally told Bella what my mother had told me on the phone. I knew that Bella wanted to know what had made me so upset but she knew me well enough to know that I would talk about when I was ready.

Now Bella was back to being angry with my mother. She had started liking her a little but now not so much. But she understood now why I was resolved not to live in the same town as my mother again. I don't think that I could handle that, at least not at this time. But I was determined that to keeping reminding both of us that my mother had been mentally ill at the time and like I told mom, if anything had been different I may not have found my Bella. That thought and Bella herself was the only thing was keeping me from cutting all ties with my family and just disappearing into the world.

The next day we went to the amusement park and it really was a lot of fun. There were several roller coasters and this really fun train ride where they staged a train robbery. And then there was the saloon show. The guy in my really liked that and I even bought a garter belt for Bella. The amount of handmade crafts was amazing as well. We spent a good deal of time watching these ladies make fudge from scratch and then they packaged it to sell in the shop.

We actually ended up buying a lot of souvenirs. It was actually a good thing that we had a SUV at this point. We ate neat little restaurant in the park called Dine in the Mine. It was literally underground with pewter plates and cups and was served beans and franks and stew and lemonade. Just like real miners.

By the end of the day we were exhausted and went back to the cabin and collapsed in bed. The next day we spent sightseeing through town and even decided to take in a show that evening. It was these brothers and their sister, all seven of them, were musically trained and performed together. They actually ended being quite a talented group. They were really a close group that really loved and respected each other and I found myself wishing that my family was more like that.

"You're sulking about something. What's wrong?" Bella was so attuned to my moods that she just knew that something was bothering me. I told it I was just lamenting that my family was as dysfunctional as it was and how I had always thought that we were a normal family and now I am seeing how disturbed the situation really was.

The next morning we embarked on our three hour journey to St. Louis to meet up with Meg, David, and Carolyn. They were going to meet us at our hotel that afternoon. We had decided to stay at the Adams Mark that was downtown across from the arch. We were definitely heading up there.

Meg brought her new girlfriend, Dana, along with her to meet us that afternoon. It was so wonderful to meet up with David and Meg again and to meet Dana and Carolyn. The first thing that Meg noticed was the ring on Bella hand.

"Holy shit! You weren't sporting that set of rocks in the wilderness." We told them all about our wedding in Reno and I showed them the picture of us that Ben had taken with Bella's camera that I now had a copy of on my new phone. That evening the six of us decided to go out to dinner and then dancing at a local club.

Bella was incredibly sexy in the dress that she chose to wear. It was low cut in the front and back and really short, we're talking there was barely any dress there to describe. And you can bet that she didn't leave my sight all night except when she went to the bathroom, when I insisted that she go with one of the other girls for safety. We were in a very large strange town in a bar. It just wasn't a safe idea for any of the girls to wander off alone. I'm not trying to be sexist or anything it was just a fact of life.

She tried to argue with us, saying that she'd be fine, but I was from a large town and I've been out partying in clubs where she was from a life where she was a bit naïve about these things. Everyone in town knew she was the chief of police's daughter and no one was going to be stupid enough to attack her. I may have never met the man but I know that he carried a gun as it's a given that if anyone idiot had dared to hurt his little girl there was no way that he wasn't going to go after them and not in a way that would cost the taxpayers the money for a trial. She finally relented when Meg told her that two women had been attacked in the area in the last few months and they hadn't caught the guy. After they left the table David told me it wasn't true. Meg likes to use scare tactics to keeps her friends from doing foolish things like wandering off alone in a club like that.

When we finally made it back to the room I had that dress that barely was, gone in seconds and I had my sexy wife naked in our bed. We slept in late the next morning which wasn't a real problem as we were going to spend the day alone. We weren't going to meet up with the others until dinner and then we were going to head out to some haunted houses.

After a late breakfast we walked over to the arch and made our way to the top. I was glad that it was a weekday and basically empty today because there was something that I wanted to do and I just hoped that I wasn't going to get in trouble for violating her no excessive PDA rules. It wasn't that naughty of an act, I just wanted to very passionately kiss my wife on top of the arch. I also wanted to do it again when we got to New York, at the top of the Empire State Building.

As we stood there with her in my arms as we looked out the windows overlooking St. Louis I grabbed her arm and spun her around and kissed her putting every once of the love that I feel for in the kiss. I was so thrilled that she reacted positively to the kiss and threw herself into the kiss just much as I had. Then she pulled away whispered in my ear that we should go back to the room and finish thist in private for the next few hours. And that is exactly what we did.

A/N:

Ok. I just took on a new responsibility in my life. If you follow me on twitter you know that I am now in charge of my brother's finances and he can't be trusted to do it. I have spent the last two days not only preparing for an exam of my own, and ensuring that my son is doing what he is supposed to but, figuring out how to get my brother out of the red hole he was in that end up totally around $2000. NEVER go to payday advance places. It's legalized loan sharking! Angry accountant in me coming out now. I mean I picked up his checkbook and asked where the register was and he said he never thought that he needed one. He's 44 years old by the way. Banging the head on the desk right now. Well, enough venting about that. I really just wanted to say it may be another thing to push back updates. I got a request in the reviews to do Carlisle and Esme's talk after she got off the phone with Bella. I am going to write it, it just may take a couple of weeks. Next week is the haunted houses and then the Halloween party. Oh, I also wanted to say that the zoo in Omaha is exactly as I described it, I should know, it's literally in my backyard! I am telling you, it is so close I find peacocks on my lawn quite frequently. And as you can tell from my screen name, Branson is my second home. I go every summer for a week at the cabins and sometimes in the fall. I have vacationed there for every 34 years of my life. Have a great week and y'all know where to find me in the meantime.


	13. Chapter 13

FYH Chapter 13

Haunted Nights

BPOV:

We were still lying in bed a few hours later talking and dozing in and out. I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken by Edward taking my nipple into his mouth again and biting on it gently. God, I loved it when he did things like that. Then he moved up a little and captured my mouth in another passionate kiss while he moved so that he was lying directly on top of me. He was just about to enter me when all of sudden there was a loud banging on the door and yells from our friends to open up the door.

I looked over at the clock and realized that we had been so wrapped up in each other, literally, that we had lost track of time completely. We jumped out of bed; Edward threw on some pants while I ran to the bathroom to clean up. I heard him let our friends into the room and apologize that we were running a bit behind schedule. I heard them laugh and joke about us being too busy in bed to keep track of the time.

We finally made it out of the room and off to the restaurant forty-five minutes later. They took us to a place called Fitz's restaurant for burgers. They had to be the best burgers that I had ever eaten not to mention that we were able to sit and watch them bottle the homemade root beer that they brewed while we ate.

The first haunted house that we went to was one called Lemp Brewery. It boasted a story of the Lemp family that not only owned the brewery but lived in a mansion right next door. The story goes that within a span of a couple years every member of the family took their own lives inside the mansion.

I was didn't really want to do the haunted house thing but everyone else did and I didn't want to ruin everyone else's fun. I wasn't into the whole horror thing at all. I never watched horror movies growing up; the thought alone was enough to induce nightmares. It was scary going through the underground tunnels at the Lemp place but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so decided to move on the next haunted house our friends always went to.

We took our SUV since there were so many of us. And even though the route to Creepy World, our next destination, was pretty straight forward, we let David drive as he was pretty infatuated with the vehicle. Meg just complained that she had wanted to ride on the bike and wished that we still had it. I told her that we'd bring the bike when we came back for the wedding.

It only took about a half an hour to get to Creepy World and let me tell you the name was completely accurate. After one look I really wanted to just wait in the car but I didn't want to be the bummer of the group and rationalized that there was nothing to be afraid of as I was told that the actors were not allowed to actually touch me. But rational thinking goes right out the window when faced with paralyzing fear. I should have listened to my common sense and hid in the trunk. But apparently I have neither common sense nor a trunk for that matter and I followed along with the rest of the group.

This park that we were at actually had about seven haunted areas within the park. The first one that we went to was actually outdoors. It was called "Route 666 Drive Inn" they played real horror movies while you had to work your way through a maze of cars while monster jumped out at you from behind and even underneath cars. I wasn't feeling too sure about continuing when we finally got through the maze but I stupidly kept my mouth shut and went with the flow.

The next part of the park that we went to was the 3-D Ice Scream Factory. I should have known right there that it was a bad idea. Half way through I had Edward's in a vice grip and by the time we were through I had my face hidden in his chest and I was crying. Edward steered me to a bench and we sat down for a bit and he held me tight while stroking my hair.

After a few minutes I finally calmed down. It was just so overwhelming in there with everything flying out at me constantly. I was definitely was not prepared for that. I tried to apologize but no one would let me. I insisted that they go ahead and go onto the rest of the park and I would be just fine on the bench but Edward was adamant that he was not going to leave me sitting there alone until David said that he didn't want to see anymore either and would keep me company. Dana grabbed Edward's arm when she saw that he was going to protest some more and dragged him away rolling her eyes leaving David and I alone on the bench.

"You've never been through haunted houses before have you?"

"No. There wasn't a call for them in Forks and the nearest ones were in Seattle. Most of friends would go but I wasn't interested in going all that way to see them."

"So, what did you do to celebrate Halloween?"

"Well, Dad always worked. He liked to have as many of his officers out patrolling that night as possible to make sure that the children that were out stayed safe and out of trouble. So, Mom and I would make homemade chili and watched "Young Frankenstein" while we passed out candy. It was Halloweeny without being scary."

We sat there talking about our childhoods for a while longer before David announced that he was hungry for some chocolate and apparently there was only one place to go in St. Louis for good chocolate desserts, Bailey's Chocolate Bar. By the time that the others rejoined us it is not only nearing midnight but David and I were now old friends.

When we got to The Chocolate Bar the first thing that we all ordered was some coffee to warm up and then had the difficult task of choosing desserts from the menu. In the end we all ended up ordering something different and decided to share so that everyone could get a taste. Upon the first taste of these chocolate concoctions the words exquisite, divine, and orgasmic popped into my brain but none of these words these desserts justice.

When we got back to the room I went to take a quick shower and when I came back out I found Edward in bed writing in his journal. He usually waited for me to go to sleep to write but I knew that he'd been tired the last few nights and hadn't been keeping up so I crawled into bed next to him and picked up the book that I was reading and left him to his writing in peace and quiet.

EPOV:

I felt absolutely horrible that Bella got so upset at the haunted house, but really that 3-D one scared me pretty bad too. I've gone to haunted houses for years with my siblings but I'd never been in anything that scary. I was going to stay with her but the girls dragged me off saying that David hated these things and only endured them for them and she'd be just fine with him. They assured me that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. I knew that of course.

Upon returning to the bench where left Bella and David, Bella stood up and kissed me on the cheek and told me that David and her wanted dessert. And well, if my wife wanted dessert she was going get her dessert and what they were amazing desserts at that.

The coffee was a good idea as it kept me focused enough to catch up on my writing. When Bella curled up in bed next to me with her book and we were able to sit in such a comfortable silence, content just to be near each other, I knew that I had everything I had ever hoped to achieve or acquire in life anything else was just a bonus on top of that.

Later that morning our friends arrived while I was still in the shower. I heard Bella come into the bathroom and tell me that the guys brought me something and I was supposed to wear and then she left. I was a bit nervous when I reached into the bag but started laughing when I realized that it was a St. Louis Ram's jersey. So I put in on and when I left the bathroom I noticed that everyone, including Bella had one on as well.

David introduced me to his friends Felix, Kyle, and Andrew and then handed me a ticket. We were going to see the Rams play the Carolina Panthers. It was totally cool especially since we'd been invited to a tailgate party beforehand. I kissed Bella goodbye and set off with the guys while the girls went off to do girly things to get ready for the party. I knew that Bella had an appointment to get her hair done and I begged her not to cut it off, I loved her long hair. She assured me that the most that she'd do was a little trim to even it out.

The game was a lot of fun and they had gotten us really good seats. I spent a good part of the day drinking and eating and having a great time hanging with the guys. I talked quite a bit with Felix who was pre-med and just from that decision alone I knew that I would have had a completely miserable life in med school and a horrible future as a doctor. It just wasn't the right path for me and I already knew that I was never going to go down that road again but now I was sure that I had made the right decision in regards to my future as a doctor.

It wasn't my first time seeing an NFL game. My father regularly bought tickets to see the Cardinals play and took, Emmett, Jasper, me to the games for a guy's outing while my mother went for girls day with Rose, Alice, and Tanya. I knew that they would usually go shopping and to the spa. I didn't really mind as Tanya was usually in a good mood after being pampered and spending money and would leave me alone. Normally she would go out that night with friends. She was probably whoring around on me but again as long as she left me alone I didn't really care.

It was almost five when the game was finally over and we were making our way to David's parent's house where the party was being held. We were supposed to be there by six but were now running late due to traffic. As soon as we did make it there we were ushered upstairs by Carolyn and told which rooms each of our costumes were in. Bella and I were going to stay here tonight so that we could drink and not have to worry about getting back to the hotel.

I was standing there with my back to the door in just my boxers when I heard the door open and close then I felt Bella's arms wrap around my waist.

"I missed you today. If I wasn't afraid of ruining my hair and makeup I push you down on that bed and have my way with you."

I turned in her arms and saw her for the first time since I returned. She had her hair braided and wrapped around a gold band on her head and she looked absolutely breathtaking and stunning in her goddess costume that was off white with a dark blue sash. I was to be wearing a matching costume.

"There is always tonight my love." And with that we went back downstairs to join the others for a supper of pizza before the party guests started showing up. We talked about our meeting in the Grand Canyon and we discussed David and Carolyn's wedding plans. And we talked about what we knew of our plans for the future, which for Bella and I wasn't much at this point. We weren't ready to make those decisions yet.

A few hours later we stood in a house full of party goers that can only be described as drunken frat boys and sorority girls. One idiot, who had been staring at Bella, came up and introduced himself and even though we introduced ourselves as husband and wife had the nerve to stand there in front of me and proposition Bella.

Bella looked absolutely disgusted and looked him right in the eye and said "EW! No, just no. and we told you that we were married."

"So what! I'm sure that your "husband" (and yes he used air quotes) wouldn't mind me borrowing you for an hour or so. I'm willing to pay. Just name your price." That was it, I had officially had it with this fucker and I punched him in the nose and as he was bent over howling in pain Bella kneed him in the groin. David and Felix heard the commotion and ran over to see what was going on and then escorted Dirk out of the house telling him that if he returned the cops would be called.

But Bella wouldn't leave my side after that. Dirk hadn't even been invited to the party and she felt that if he got in once he could get in again and didn't want to take any chances. So I held my wife and danced with her for hours until the all the guests were gone. Then I took my wife upstairs and laid her out on the bed and made love to her like the lady that she is and deserved to be treated as. You see, assholes like Dirk will never understand that a woman like Bella was not just dressed as a goddess, she was a goddess and I was going to worship her for the rest of my life.

A/N:

This is unbeta'd because I literally just finished this. This was hard to get done. I wrote it once and wasn't happy with it and fate intervened and I lost about six hundred words somehow when I email it to myself at work. Then I get it done today, six whole pages, I saved it, closed the file, locked my computer and went to get my lunch and when I got back it was all gone. Not a trace of it existed on the computer so I had to start over, again. The outtake is still coming I will work on it this week. I want to add that I may have taken some creative license with the scariness of the haunted houses but they do exist. I also want to give props out to "theladykt" and "mels78_H" for their suggestions and help with all things St. Louis. Thanks ladies!


	14. Chapter 14

FYH Chapter 14

Southward we go

EPOV:

We woke the next morning still naked and slightly hung over. But it was time to move on to our next destination, New Orleans, sort of. We were going to head that way but stop and detour whenever we felt the urge. I think that we both would have preferred to visit during Mardi gras but its November right now and that is months away.

After we showered and dressed we met everyone else downstairs for some breakfast. It was Monday and they were all preparing to leave for school. They had daily lives and routines and a small part of me was yearning to have that again, but not quite yet. There were still so many places that we wanted to see before we settled down and got caught up in real life.

I knew that reality was bound to come for us soon enough. We couldn't run around the world forever and not become responsible adults. There were things that we wanted to do with our lives and things that we needed to take care of. One of those things for me was mending my relationship with my family. I couldn't keep running from them forever. I hadn't called any of them since that last phone call with my mother. I was still attempting to overcome a lot of hurt and anger induced by that conversation. I really even had much of a chance to talk to Bella about it since I told her what my mother had done.

We still had the hotel room for today and were planning to head out in the morning so I suggested we take a rest day. Just lie around the room and do absolutely nothing. Well, I wrote in my journal and hashed out some things about my mother and things that I wanted to say to her the next time that we talked. I was curious about what was going on back home. Bella commented that I was avoiding them again and I wasn't going to get anything solved or settled until I confronted them and dealt with it head on. I grumbled around the room for a bit but knew that she was right. I needed to call my mother again. I also needed to talk to my sister.

"Today is as good a day as any." That is what Bella said when I told her about needing to speak to my family again. I have to say, honestly, they have all been very patient and understanding since I ran off. It was not something that I expected at all. They weren't call all the time harassing me about coming home or about doing what I wanted to do instead of what they wanted me to do. They weren't calling at all. They all had my number but they were letting me initiate contact when I was ready and for that I was grateful and really I needed to start showing it more.

I decided to call my sister first. Alice held a lot of resentment toward me for causing her and Jasper to be separated for so many years. And she took it out on me every chance that she got. She may not have been near as bad as Tanya or her sisters were but Alice could be a completely spoiled brat when she wanted to be. Rose had told me that everyone understood why I left and were completely behind me and supporting my decision but I just didn't know how much to trust that. I admit that they have been really nice to Bella and all but I just don't know. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. Something is bound to burst the happy little bubble that we've created for ourselves.

On the other hand, bratty and spoiled as my sister may be, she did attempt to stand up for me with Mom once when she found out that Tanya was cheating on me. It didn't even come close to working as Mom refused to even hear her out. I told her it was ok and that I appreciated her trying but it was just something that I was going to have to live with.

But my life was different now. I was different now. I knew now that I didn't have to deal with it and exist. I could live and I could love and God there I go sounding like a girl again. But it was true. Bella had changed my life in so many ways and I am so grateful to whatever higher power brought us both to that hotel bar that Saturday night.

After a quiet lunch provided by room service we decided we were in the moo to go swimming in the hotel's indoor pool. There were a couple of families there and we got into a game of water volleyball using a beach ball with some of the kids. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons I had spent in a long time. I had never spent a whole lot of time around kids, but Bella had. She was a natural with children and I was finding that I enjoyed being around them.

For some reason I was reluctant to pack and move on this time though. Maybe it was all the fun we'd had or my maybe it was because of the friends that we had here, but I didn't want to leave and from the way that Bella was procrastinating packing as well I was sure that she was feeling the same way.

"I think St. Louis should be on our list of potential cities to settle in." she blurted out all of a sudden. And I could not agree with her more. So the list was officially started. After we got back from dinner Bella suggested that we curl up on the bed and watch a movie but there was something else that I needed to do first. Something that I had put off all day and needed to get done before I lost my nerve completely and put it off again. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and found my sister's name in my contact list and hit send.

BPOV:

I was sitting curled up to his side as I listened to him talk to his sister. It seemed to go well all things considered. He was laughing a lot, which was a good sign. I must have fallen asleep somewhere during the call because I woke a couple hours later needing to use the bathroom and Edward was sleeping behind me with his arms wrapped around me.

I managed to get out of his grip and make it to the bathroom. When I returned, I crawled back into bed and lay there watching him sleep. He looked so peaceful there tonight which is something that I don't always see from him. Even in his sleep he tends to dwell on things and brood. His brow is usually creased and I can see the worry and stress on his face. But tonight there was only calm. I moved over to lay my head on his chest and he immediately grabbed me into his arms and I fell back to sleep and when I awoke hours later we were still in the same exact position.

After a quick breakfast we loaded the car and left St. Louis. This was the first stop that I really did not want to leave. We had good friends here and that made the city so appealing. What was not appealing however was the size of the city, I was a small town girl and needed to consider that as we made that decision. Edward had always lived in a big city and I knew he'd be happy to continue living that way, but could I be happy in a city this size where you barely knew anyone. It was one of the many things that I needed to think about and of course discuss with my husband because wherever we ended up at we both had to be happy with the decision.

If we were planning to drive straight through to New Orleans the drive would have taken only about ten and a half hours. But we detoured out of our way to Arlington, Texas of all places just to see the Texas Rangers play the New York Yankees. The drive to Arlington ended up taking just as long as if we had gone straight to New Orleans. Edward was spouting off something about the World Series and play offs and since I was really interested I let it go in one ear and out the other paying just enough attention that I could nod along in all the right places.

After watching the Rangers go down to the Yankees Edward wanted to celebrate. I guess I married a Yankee's fan and didn't know it. So we ended up go to a bar near the stadium. We ran into quite a few people there that had just been watching the game and felt the need to celebrate New York's win. Edward looked exasperated when he had to explain to me (again!) that this win sent the Yankee's to the World Series for the second year in a row.

I was just glad that I hadn't had to sit out in the chilly St. Louis temperature's to watch that football game that the guys took Edward to. Maybe a big city like St. Louis wasn't such a good idea after all. It's not that I disliked sports but I didn't want to end up being dragged to games all the time either.

The next morning, I drove as we left Texas for Louisiana as Edward was a bit hung over from our trip to the bar last night. It was almost nine hours later when I pulled up to the valet parking at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. The suite that we had reserved was simply gorgeous and I was really getting spoiled by these fancy hotels that we kept staying at. It was really going to suck when we returned to the real world and had to start washing our own dishes and clothes again!

It was late and we were tired so we ordered room service again and turned in early. The next morning after breakfast at Le café in the hotel we went exploring The French Quarter. At one point we found a brochure advertising tours of the area it piqued our interest until Edward read something about real haunted houses and cemeteries being on the tour.

"Nope! No way! No how! I'm not putting you through that again. And beside its one thing when you know it's fake and shit but this stuff…" Yeah, neither of us really wanted to go there. So we shopped. We shopped a lot and listened to the street performers. There was so much to see and do that we were going to be here for a week.

And we took a lot of pictures to send back to his family. He was genuinely happy these days and I was happy for him. Although he had yet to call his mother like he'd wanted to but he would when he was ready. I had faith in my husband that it was just as he said. He was just gathering his thoughts and exactly what he wanted to say before he made the call.

A/N:

I know that its short but I am giving you the outtake this week too. Next week will be a continuation of New Orleans! Now onto writing a fight scene. You know where to find me between chapters. Have a safe and Happy Halloween! It's the last year I have to take my son trick or treating! YES! After twelve years I'm over it!


	15. Chapter 15

FYH Chapter 15

New Orleans at Night

EPOV:

I've always heard that New Orleans at night was a spectacular thing to witness. Not only is there great food at amazing restaurants but great musicians playing on every street corner. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant called Mr. B's and then wandered up and down Bourbon Street and settled at a corner bar sitting out in the courtyard listening to live jazz music while enjoying the warm evening that New Orleans had given us.

After a couple of hours we left the bar and took another walked around Bourbon Street and then started the walk back to our hotel. It was just past three in the morning but we decided to get the car and go on walk along the beach of Lake Pontchartrain. We took a blanket with us and sat on the beach until we watched the sun rise. Then we started back to the hotel stopping for breakfast along the way. Once back at the hotel we fell right to sleep perfectly content in our love for one another.

The phone rang about noon waking us both up. Groggily I reached for my phone on the nightstand where I normally kept it.

"Ha-yah." Jesus even I could hear how incoherent I sounded.

"Edward?" It was my mother.

"Yeah, Mom," I said sitting up and looking at the clock.

"Are you ok?" 

"Yes. I was asleep."

"Oh dear. I'm sorry. I didn't think about time differences."

"Mom, it's alright. It's actually noon here."

"Oh. I'd ask why you're still in bed at that hour but I'm afraid that's something a mother really doesn't want to know about her son."

Now I was laughing. "No, mom, Bella and I are in New Orleans. We were out late listening to music and then decided to sit at the beach and watch the sunrise."

"Oh your father and I did that a few times. Way back before we had kids and could sleep in half the day. You know, now that you are all grown and out of the house maybe we should do things like that again." She laughed. I hadn't heard my mother laugh like that in years, nor had I heard her sound so happy. "I didn't wake Bella too did I?"

"Nah, she's still dead to the world."

"Good. The reason I called honey is that we wanted to ask you to participate in family therapy with us. I mean if you want to, we won't pressure you into anything you don't want to do."

"Well that would be a first mom." I blurted out not even realizing what I had said until I heard my mother gasp. "Mom, I'm—"

"No, Edward. Don't you even dare try to apologize. I deserved that and anyway it's the truth."

"Truth or not it wasn't very nice."

"That's beside the point."

"No, its not, it was rude. No one deserves to be treated that rudely. Well, not no one, I can think of a few. But back to the point, what is involved with this therapy thing?"

She went on to inform be that it would be once every two weeks and that all I would need to do is be by the phone in a quiet place when it was time for them to call."

"I know that Alice and Emmett and going but what about Rose and Jasper?"

"Yes, they are attending as well they are part of this family."

"What about Bella?"

"Well, I, uh…" she stuttered over her words, "I hadn't really thought about it, but she is part of this family now too, so of course, she should join in, if you want her too and she wants to."

"Of course, I want her too. She _is_ my wife."

"Edward, I didn't mean it like that. It just never dawned on me to invite her to sit in, to be honest I was preoccupied with your reaction to my request."

"It looks like it's a good thing we are doing group therapy, I think that I'm really going to need it to get passed all this anger I have right now."

"Do you think you can? Forgive me and move on, I mean?"

"I think so, but I have to tell you that I am still very angry about the things that you told me about on our last call. Please tell me you don't have any more confessions like that coming."

"No. Little things maybe, but that was the worst of what I had done that you didn't know about. But we should leave that for therapy."

"Ok. When do we have to be by the phone?" 

"Wednesday at 2pm."

"Ok. That's five my time. That should work."

"Good. Thank you Edward for agreeing to this."

"You're welcome, mom. I really think that this will be a good thing."

"Can I ask you something, Edward?"

"Yeah." I answered warily.

"What are the two of you planning to do for Thanksgiving?"

"Don't know mom. We haven't even decided where our next destination is going to be and we are leaving tomorrow." 

"Oh. You don't suppose you would consider—"

"No mom. That is not going to happen. I'm willing to work on this but I'm not ready to see you."

"I understand. I love you and I'll talk to you on Wednesday. Ok?" She sounded like she was about to start crying and wanted to get off the phone before it happened.

"Ok. I love you too, mom." I sighed and hung up the phone and stared at it in my hand for a minute before looking over at Bella and realizing that she was awake. She never said a word she just sat up and wrapped her arms around me and held me in silence while I thought about how that call had gone and how rude I'd been. I was feeling guilty because her she was trying to make amends and fix things between us and the vindictive part of me was glad that I'd hurt her feelings and let her feel for a moment as bad as she had made me feel for years.

BPOV:

I could hear Edward talking but at first I thought it was a dream. That is until I realized that I really was awake and he really was talking to his mother. I wondered what she was saying because he was responding with very un-Edward-like very rude comments.

I heard my name get mentioned once and I have no idea what it was that she said about me but it really upset Edward and he snapped at her again. I thought she had liked me when we had talked before but maybe I was wrong.

I rudest I heard him get was when he refused point blank to see her. While I wasn't proud of the way that he said it I was proud that he stood his ground with her and refused to give in to her demands. Then he ended the call and just sat there. I pulled him into my arms and just held him knowing that he would talk to me when he was ready. One thing that my mother always told me and Mrs. Webber confirmed was that men would talk when they were ready to and it did no good to try to force them before they were ready.

Eventually Edward leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before saying thanks and getting up to go into the bathroom and I reached over and grabbed the room service menu. This was going to call for big chocolate malts and a bubble bath with candles.

So I ordered the malts and burgers and fries and asked if they could get the candles from the gift shop for me and then I informed Edward that lunch was on the way when he came out of the bathroom. He smiled at me and came over to lie next to me on the bed and grabbed me up into his arms. We laid there holding each other and just kissing until the food had arrived. We had had such a romantic night waiting up for the sunrise and I could tell that he was not going to let his phone call with his mother put a damper on that.

After we ate I went into the bathroom to run the bubble bath and then invited Edward to join me. Well, ok, what really happened was that I stood in the middle of the room stark naked and told him that I was going to take bubble bath then turned to walk into the bathroom and at the bathroom door I turned around and asked if he was coming. Yeah, he about knocked us both down in his attempt to rid himself of his clothes while following me into the bathroom.

We sat in the tub for about fifteen minutes before he spoke. "Mom called to ask us to join the family therapy thing."

"Both of us?" I asked.

"Yes."

"But she doesn't like me."

"What gave you that idea?" He asked and I when I turned to look at him he looked utterly perplexed.

"I heard you talking about me and it just seemed that she had said something to indicate that she didn't."

"Oh honey, no. She was a bit rude but I really don't think it was intentional." He explained that it just had not occurred to her that I would want to join into the family therapy with them. Honestly I could agree with that a little. I really didn't know these people so what good would it really do for me to participate.

"Bella, you do want to don't you?"

"Edward, I do yet I don't. I don't know what I would say or really have to contribute. I don't know them and I didn't know you then, but I will sit with you and listen."

"That sounds reasonable and probably what my mother thought. But will you promise that you'll speak up if you have something to say about what's being discussed?"

I agreed that that sounded reasonable and we continued our bath and discussed where we wanted to go next. It was down to two different locations Disney World or Myrtle Beach. Where ever we ended up was going to be where we would where we would be spending Thanksgiving, and that is what cinched our decision. We were going to go to Myrtle Beach and rent a beach house. At least that way I could cook us a big dinner and we'd have peace and quiet. Disney seemed like there would be a lot of people and commotion.

Later that afternoon we went out and enjoyed our last evening before we had to leave New Orleans. While we enjoyed our time there it was by no means a place that I could see myself settling down in.

The next morning we loaded up the car and bid a farewell to yet another location that we had visited and made sure that we sent our pictures off to Angela and his mother before we pulled out of town.

A/N: 

Sorry about the lack of update last week. Another auditing exam came up that took a lot of time. There is an outtake being posted today as well. We get to hear from Alice for the first time. Finals are in about a month so updates are going to be sketchy til they are done. Thanks for reading and you know where to find me. I want to rec a story this week: Discovering You, Discovering Me; by JSFAZZ. It is really good and it's an Edward that you will want to sink your teeth into…literally!


	16. Chapter 16

FYH Chapter 16

Family Ties

EPOV:

I could not believe that it was only one week to Thanksgiving. The days have been flying past since I met and married Bella. It was hard to believe that we've been together for four months now and married for three. It was mind boggling the changes that my life had been through over in such a short period of time, both the really good and the really bad. But there was so much that I still wanted to do with my life after this trip was over and we settled somewhere. I knew that I needed to tell my family and thought that I would bring this up during that damn therapy session that I was participating in this afternoon. I was not looking forward to this at all.

We had arrived at Myrtle Beach last night and found our way to the little house on the beach that we had found on the internet. When I woke this I was morning I was surprised to find Bella gone. I found a note on the nightstand from her saying that she ran to the store to get some food for the day which was really good as I was starving. I jumped into the shower hoping that by the time I was done she would be back. I just hoped that she thought to pick up some beer or something to calm my nerves.

By the time that I made it down the stairs I heard her pull up so I ran outside to help her carry the groceries in. It looked like she grabbed enough stuff for a couple of days but we were still attempting to narrow down the menu for our little Thanksgiving dinner that we were having by ourselves. I still felt bad that I hurt my mother's feelings, a little bit but I was getting over it. I really was really looking forward to a nice quiet intimate holiday alone with my wife.

Bella told me that she had picked up some stuff to make this breakfast casserole that her mother had made all the time and I followed her into the kitchen to help her put everything away. Then I sat on a bar stool at the breakfast bar and watched her cook. Just sitting there watching her move through the kitchen with such ease and grace and the easy conversation that we fell into discussing what she bought for dinner and then the menu for Thursday again and it was just…there were no words to describe the feelings that I felt as I watched her cook as I sat and watched her. It was domesticated but it was beyond perfect, it was wonderfully and completely just home.

It wasn't the location it was us. It was that our love for each other that made it home and I knew that no matter what happened this afternoon or in the near future for us and our travel I would be a happy man as long as she was with me. I suddenly realized that she was standing there looking at me like I was crazy and then she started laughing at me.

"What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to take a walk on the beach after we eat."

"Oh. Sorry. Yes, a walk on the beach sounds great."

"Are you ok?" 

"Perfect. I am absolutely perfect."

"Ok. I am going to run up to take a shower while the casserole bakes. Will you set the table for me?"

I walked over, grabbed her into a hug, and then kissed her before she ran up the stairs laughing. It was a nice morning so I thought it would be nice to eat out on the deck. So after making sure that the table outside was clean and set, I walked back inside and my God, that casserole smelled good. However, one thing I had learned about my wife, she was an amazing cook.

She came back downstairs with her hair still wet and wear her comfortable stretch pants and one of my t-shirts that was more of a dress on her. She was thrilled with the idea of eating outside. I think that she really wanted me to remain calm and relaxed today.

As we walked along the beach an hour later, she was holding my hand when she suddenly stopped and said that she wanted to live on the beach.

"Like here in Myrtle Beach?" I asked.

"I don't know. Not necessarily here but as long as it's a beach house."

"ok. That rules out St. Louis then. You know that right?"

"Yes, but we can always visit St. Louis whenever we want to. But this is beautiful and so peaceful. I want a life like this for us and our future kids."

"Have you given any thought to when you want to start having those kids?"

"Not for a while Edward. We are still teenagers really and I really do want to go to college and become a teacher."

"That's fine. I'm in no hurry to share you just yet either."

We returned to the beach house when it started to rain and settled in to watch a movie while we waited for that call to come through. Bella had dozed off when the phone went off.

I took a deep breath in and out before answering it. It was not a number that I recognized so I figure that it must be the therapist's phone in her office. However, I did recognize my father's voice when I answered. I must have been on speakerphone because I could clearly the others in the background and my mother saying something about not wanting a repeat of the last time. I groaned because I had no idea what she was talking about and something told me that I was probably better off not knowing.

"Guys, knock it off," my father yelled, "I've got him on the phone." It was suddenly extremely quiet on the other end. In fact, I checked that I had not lost them. I contemplated whether to wake Bella but in the end, I decided to let her sleep. After I was introduced to the therapist, Bethany, she told me how it what was going to happen. There were apparently some new rules put into effect because of last time. First everyone was to remain seated and second that while it was alright to get angry everyone needed to remain respectful to each other at all times. That right there made me sure that I didn't want to know what had happened last time and even more nervous about what was about to happen.

She started with me since I was the new one and asked me how I felt about doing the therapy. Well, that was a loaded question wasn't it. I wasn't expecting that question and asked for a moment to get my thoughts together.

"I don't know really. I'm glad that mom wants to get help and all. On some level I want to know what she has to say to me but on the other hand part of me is terrified to find out what else she's done to screw up my life."

"What do you want to get out of these sessions Edward?"

"Why are you just picking on me here? Why aren't you asking the other's about these things?"

"I did the last time they were here."

"Oh." At that, I felt Bella's hand slip into mine and I looked down and found her awake and looking back at me.

"Edward can you answer my question?"

"I want peace. I want to be able to move on with my life and be happy with Bella. I want to be able to understand why my parents did the things that they did and find a way to forgive them."

"Very good. Emmett the last time that we were here we were talking about regrets and we never got a chance to discuss what you meant. Can you elaborate for us a bit today?" Emmett went on to talk about going into business for himself, how he was ready and wanted to own a shop that repaired and restored classic cars, and that he took his homework assignment seriously and was ready to put in his notice at work. There was only one little issue. They were not intending to open a new shop here in Phoenix. They knew a classic car owner that owned a shop and wanted to sell it to them so that he could retire.

"If the shop is not in Phoenix, where is it Emmett?" the therapist asked.

"Boston, Massachusetts. He needs an answer by the end of the month. And we are going to do it."

"You're moving away. First Edward and now you and Rose are leaving me. What am I going to do?"

"Jesus, Mom not everything is about you. Haven't you done enough damage to my life? Don't lay a guilt trip on Emmett and Rose about living their lives their way." Then I could hear her crying.

That was when Bethany broke in again. "You're going to survive this, Esme. It's not the end of the world. There can be visits."

"Frequent visits." Rose spoke up.

"Just don't plan to move in with them that way that you planned to with Tanya and me." I snapped.

"Edward!" Bella admonished me.

"Oh, is that your wife?" Bethany asked.

"Yes. I am. Hi everyone."

"There's Bella!" Emmett yelled.

"I was hoping that you'd be participating. I understand you've never actually met the family before?"

"I've met Emmett and Rose once."

"Very well. Feel free to jump in whenever you feel the need. I am going to let you have time to think about this until the next session, but I want you to think about what you want to get out of these sessions. Alright Carlisle let's go to you next and your regret that we spoke about last time." Dad talked about trying to force me into medicine and him stopping me from writing. He told me that that he was sorry and that no matter what I decided to do with my life he would stand behind me and be proud of me.

"That's good, Dad, because I've decided to get a degree in literature and become a writer no matter where we ended up settling down but you all know that it won't be Phoenix either, right? Just so that we are clear on that?" 

"Yes, Edward. We know. But do you guys have any idea where you want to end up?" Alice spoke up this time.

"We were just talking about that today actually. I really want to live on the beach. We're at a beach house right now and I just adore the view and the peacefulness." Bella spoke up.

"That sounds lovely. Edward, it has come to my attention that your family is reluctant to push you by contacting you or even inquiring about where you are or where you are heading to next. What do you have to say to that?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess I feel bad that my family thinks that way. But to be honest I did cause that by leaving my phone and making sure that they had no way of contacting me. I guess I wouldn't mind if they called once in a while. I mean if I don't want to talk to them at the moment I don't have to answer right?"

"No, Edward, you don't have to answer. What about giving your family an itinerary?"

"We can't do that because we never really where we are headed until we are ready to take off. We are not planning anything out ahead of time."

"Oh, Edward. We absolutely love all the pictures that you've sent to us. We appreciate that you've let us know where you've been and that you two and fine and happy." Rose spoke up.

"You're welcome Rose."

"Ok. I think we are going to end it here, Edward do you have anything else you want to say before we let you go?"

"I just want to say that I do love all of you and I do miss you." Then I hung up the phone, put my face in my hands, and cried. My mother had not said anything since I snapped at her. I hoped that she was going to be alright. Bella held me until I got ahold of my emotions and calmed down. Then we got up and worked together to make our supper and went to bed holding one another. I knew that no matter what ever happened with my family as long I had Bella I had my peace and happiness.

A\N:

Ok. I know that this is a week late but auditing had to come first. And I know that if you saw the tease last week on fictionators you'd know that it was a Bella POV. Well, that got scrapped and I rewrote the whole thing. I won't guarantee an update on a regular schedule for the next few weeks but I will try my hardest. Watch my twitter and blog for status updates.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Morning After

The next morning I woke up still wrapped up in Bella but now, I had a pounding headache. I looked over at the clock by the bed and groaned when I realized that it was already nine in the morning. We had gone to sleep at about seven with me completely drained from that therapy session with my family. I was hoping that it wouldn't always be that hard or leave me that exhausted after only an hours of talking.

I slowly and carefully got out of bed, not wanting to wake Bella and went to the find some aspirin from our luggage. Then I went to take a hot shower. I stood under the spray and allowed the things that were said yesterday to come back to me. Emmett was actually leaving Phoenix. I wondered when this was going to happen. I assumed that it was going to be soon as he mentioned putting in his notice at work.

I also thought about Bella and me settling down so more. I was eager to find a home, and then we could think about school in the fall. Contrary to what I told my dad on the phone last night, I was still very undecided about whether or not I was going to go to school, not that I had mentioned that to Bella as of yet. I knew that she was determined to get her degree. But, I was a good portion of the way through my book, I loved the way that it was turning out, and the arrogant part of me was wondering what the degree would give me that I didn't already have? However, another part of me recognized that college was important and that if I didn't go I'd end up regretting the decision one day. Plus I knew that there was no guarantee that I would be published or that anyone would buy my book.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I could smell fresh coffee and that amazing casserole that Bella made yesterday being warmed up. I quickly made my way downstairs to a sight that I wanted to see frequently for the rest of my life. My wife was standing by the sliding glass doors, she was wearing nothing but her bathrobe and was sipping on a cup of coffee while looking out at the ocean. It was raining this morning so there would be no walks on the beach or breakfast on the patio.

"This weather reminds me of home." She said sadly. It wasn't going to be her first holidays without her parents but it was going to be her first away from home. I felt bad because with everything being about my family issues and me I had forgotten that she had issues of her own to work through too.

"I love you, Bella. You know that right? I am so lucky to have you as my wife and I am so grateful to you for you standing by my side as I deal with all my issues but please don't hesitate to tell me if I'm ignoring you or anything. I know you miss your mom and dad and that it has to be hard for you at this time of year. Just please tell me if I'm being too self-absorbed or anything ok?" I had wrapped my arms around her waist and was kissing her neck.

"Honey, I'm fine. Well, maybe a little sad that they aren't here. But, Edward, they will never be here again, and even though I do miss them, I have come to terms with that."

"You'll tell me if you ever need or want to talk about them?"

"Yes. I promise I will. There's coffee in the kitchen and the casserole should be about ready by now." She turned in my arms and kissed me. "I love you too, by the way." and then she slipped out of my arms and took off for the kitchen.

After we ate breakfast, we had to run to the market to buy everything that we would need for Thanksgiving dinner. I was going to miss the meal that my mom always cooked. We had a live-in housekeeper but Thanksgiving and Christmas were two holidays that Mom always insisted that she go sit in the living room with the rest of the family and leave the cooking to her. Mom always made the cranberry sauce from scratch and it was amazing.

After we got to the store, it was plainly clear that my job for the day was to push the cart and grab the things that were too high or too heavy for her. She had everything all planned out and it really reminded me of the few times that I went shopping with mom for the Thanksgiving dinner. "A good detailed plan will ensure that you don't forget anything and cause yourself more stress later." And I really had to laugh because my Bella was a planner at heart and here we were living our lives without planning out anything and I was hoping that we weren't forgetting anything important along the way.

She stopped what she was doing and looking at me like I was insane when I started laughing. I suddenly realized that she had guided us to the produce department and was standing there with a bag of fresh cranberries in her hand with that concerned look on her face. I decided that a diversion would be a good thing right then.

"What's with the fresh cranberries?"

"Well," she said looking a little smug, "I may have snuck out of bed last night and called my mother-in-law to find out what my husband's favorite Thanksgiving dish was and to get the recipe."

"Now I really love you." And that really made her laugh. I loved her laugh and seeing her smile, but I had to ask. I had to know. "How was she when you called?"

BPOV: 

How was his mother when I called? That is what he really needed for the holiday; to know that his mother was all right after the harsh way that he treated her. I also knew that he was concerned about Emmett leaving Phoenix. Which reminded me:

"You're mom asked me to tell you that Emmett wants you to call, he needs to talk to you."

"Sure." Was all he said noticing that I still had not answered the question. I sighed, "I am not going to lie to you and tell you that she was absolutely fine, Edward. I could tell that she was crying but part of that is on Emmett and the bomb that he dropped yesterday. In fact, I think that was the biggest part of her tears."

"I thought so. This is going to be so hard for her. I just hope that it doesn't set her back. Or latch onto Alice and Jasper now since they will be the only ones left."

"I don't think she will. I think that her tears were her coming to terms with everything, Edward. I don't want to get into everything that she and I discussed but I think that she will be just fine."

"Just how long were you talking to Mom last night?" 

"Ummm…an hour…maybe two…closer to two…I really came to understand her a lot more last night and she really is a good person underneath her issues she just needs to learn how to let that woman out."

"Wow. That must have been some phone call."

"It really was." He dropped the topic of the phone call and I was glad because I really did not want to end up accidentally breaking a confidence with anything that Esme had said to me.

Esme and I had had a wonderful heart to heart last night. It was one of the reasons that I was really missing my own mother today. I missed the long talks about the future that I used to have with Mom. I missed being able to lay out my hopes and dreams to her while sitting under a blanket in the living room. Even though they were stressful, scary nights I missed sitting up with her during mad weather waiting for Dad to come home, for neither of us were going to be able to sleep until he did.

I missed their loved and devotion to not only me but to each other. I knew that I came from a vastly different background than Edward. We never had much money but we had each other and we were close. And in that way my family was a lot richer than Edward's family ever was. They loved each other, that was obvious, but their own individual issues kept all of them from being close, and that was a damn shame.

Moreover, really, Esme's tears were due in part to Edward's comments and attitude earlier that day. The only reason that she even answered the phone when I called was that I had used Edward's phone and thought that it was him so that she could apologize again for the things that she had done. I honestly wasn't sure who owed who an apology right now.

I was concerned that her guilt was going to impede her therapy and healing. As much as I believe that Edward is entitled to his anger, it did not mean that he could keep lashing out at her like he had been. She told me last night that her greatest fear was that he was never going to get over his anger. She loved him, that much was obvious, and her real goal at this point was plain and simple, she just wanted to repair her relationship with Edward. She understood that there were issues with her other children but the damage with Edward was the greatest and the priority. She intended him to know about that but wanted to do it herself. They needed to fix what was broken themselves and interfering was not going to help at all.

The rest of the shopping trip was quite the experience. Edward has a habit of picking of the worst junk foods that were bad for him. I shuddered to think of the garbage that he'd one day try to feed our children. I had to keep putting things back and then endure his pouting that he really wanted that and everything from the Hot Fudge Pop tarts to the Ho Ho's and pizza pockets were his absolute favorites. So we compromised and I agreed to make a chocolate cake and get ice cream for dessert as neither of us were fans of pumpkin.

It was still raining when we left the store and headed home and of course he tried to stop me from helping him carry in the bags but I was having none of that. I was not weak or fragile; I could carry a damn few bags.

I immediately got to work on the prep while Edward went into the other room to call his brother. I figured that it was going well because Edward got really excited and was laughing a lot and he congratulated Emmett and Rose a lot. He was in a really good mood when he ended the call and came to join me in the kitchen and asked if he could help with anything. I told him that he could help by ordering a pizza because I was too busy doing the prep work to fix dinner. He laughed and went to find a number for a delivery place and I happily continued preparing our very first Thanksgiving dinner together.

A/N:

I am so so so sorry that it took so long to get this done. I kept sitting in front of the computer but no one would talk to me. Finally this morning they are started demanding to talk again. There are going to be outtakes coming in the next few days. Esme, Emmett, and Alice all have something that they want to say now, too. Thanks for reading and you know where to find me between updates. A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!


	18. Chapter 18

FYH Chapter 18

New Traditions…Old Traditions

EPOV:

I could not believe that my brother was going to be a father. I was going to be an uncle. Bella was so excited to become an aunt as well. Emmett said that Rose was three months along now and was actually due on the 4th of July. Emmett was joking that if it was a girl he wanted to name it Americus Nation after a little girl in this sappy chick flick that Rose loved and forced him to watch all the time. "Like Hell!" was the response I heard from Rose in the background and I laughed so hard that I nearly cried. But this brought on a new resolve in my mind and it was a subject that I talked to Bella about at dinner.

"When the baby is born I need to, no I want to be there soon after to meet my niece or nephew." I would have to be ready to face my parents in six months time. So that was going to really put a time limit on our travels.

"Of course, honey, we'll get there as soon as we get word we'll get the first flight to Arizona."

I was in no way being naïve about the prospect of seeing my mother again but deep down I knew that she was trying to change and wasn't going to cause a problem anymore. I loved that her and Bella got on so well. I think that part of it was being able to relate to the loss of loved one, especially the loss of ones parents and how it truly affects you and changes you to no longer have them with you.

The next day I tried to help Bella with the dinner but I guess spraying the whip cream down her shirt and asking her to let me lick it off was a bad idea because she just got angry and shooed me out of the kitchen and told me to go watch the parade or something but to just stay out of her hair. I was just trying to have some fun.

She was an amazing cook and the dinner was one of the best I'd ever had. She even completely nailed the cranberry sauce. She confessed that she'd had to call my mom to get some help on it the day before. Apparently she called Mom a couple of times because she wanted it to be perfect for me. I told her that while I appreciated it greatly, I was just happy that she was here with me as my life and that I was ever so thankful that she had saved me from the nightmare that had been my life.

I did call my family when I knew that everyone was going to be there for dinner. Emmett and I had decided to keep the webcam idea a surprise for now. He was convinced that it would be her favorite present of all. The only thing that she would want more was to have me there in person. But that wasn't going to happen and Emmett must have known that because he hinted at that vaguely but never came out and suggested it to me. I think that it was going to be a start of a new tradition, so that no matter where any of us ended up, we'd be able to be together, in some fashion, for Christmas.

We ended up spending a good hour on the phone talking to everyone and enjoying a relaxed conversation for once. Of course Dad had to remind me of the therapy session that we had that week and to let us know if it something came up to prevent us from being available.

We were planning to move on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and for the first time we actually sat down and started looking at the map and planning some things. I really wanted to spend Christmas in New York. So the plan was to bypass New York as we headed north and explore the rest of New England for the next month as we made our way back to New York. There was a winter festival there called Annual Christmas by the Sea Celebration in Ogunquit that we were interested in. It was being held the first two weekends in December so we were heading up there as directly as possible as the first weekend was actually next weekend.

There was a lot of old history on the path that we were going to take up the coast from the times of the colonization of America to the civil war. I was very eager to get to see Mount Vernon which would be our next destination. After that we were going to go up to Williamsburg before completing our journey to Maine. I was just praying that the weather would hold up and we wouldn't end up getting stranded somewhere. What I was most looking for to was the 18th Century dancing that they offered and dancing with my wife I that way.

BPOV:

I had no idea my husband was such a history nut. I was literally laughing at him as we lay in bed on Thanksgiving night and he went nuts researching all that he could about the thirteen original colonies and any and all winter festivals that we being held in New England.

I was happy that he was so excited about this. I was too, but if I wasn't careful with all the chocolate demos that were being held a festivals that he wanted to go to I would end up looking like a beach whale.

But what I was more interested in at this point was where we were going to go after we finished with New England. I was eager to leave the US and travel abroad. I had never been out of the US, obviously and neither had my parents. It was this leg of the journey that was going to be the most significant to me. My parents, with their limited income, would never have had the opportunity to travel abroad. It was a luxury that they would never have been able to afford.

So Saturday morning we loaded up the car and took off for Mount Vernon. It would take us over eight hours to get there from Myrtle Beach. So we weren't planning on doing much when we got there besides check in. We would get to spend two days there, then take the two hour drive up to Williamsburg, spending two days there as well before we completed our expedition to Maine.

The morning after we checked into the inn that we were staying at close to Mount Vernon we got up and made our way down to breakfast before heading over to the plantation to take the tour. It was so amazingly beautiful. The work that they must put into the constant upkeep of the place was staggering to consider.

The mansion itself was spectacular. There were wood walls and the beautiful wooden banisters. The crib however, that was used by Martha Washington's granddaughter was the most breathtaking that I had ever seen in my life.

The grounds were a bit more interesting if not unusual. There was a building called the "necessary house". I guess that was the gentile way of wording it because where I come from it was just the outhouse.

I think that hardest building of all to see was the slave's quarters. The guide told us that at the time that George Washington died he own over 300 hundred slaves. It was hard to believe that the father of our great nation based on freedom from oppression kept people as pieces of property.

Edward and I had a nice, early supper at Mount Vernon before heading back to the Inn. We had foods that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. We started by sharing the Peanut and Chestnut soup and the Hoe Cakes and for our entrée we both had the venison mixed grill.

We headed back to the Inn for a quiet night alone with the Jacuzzi in our suite and then we had planned on a movie but never got that far before we ended up in bed. Not that we went to sleep early at all.

The next morning we made our way back to the plantation to take in more of the activities that were planned. Today we were spending the whole day participating in the festival. Edward and I spent the morning making chocolates and other arts and crafts then after lunch at the food court we spent the majority of the afternoon learning 18th century dances and loving every minute of it, even if we were completely exhausted by the time that it was over. That night after a dinner of delivery pizza and ibuprofen in the Jacuzzi we slept well.

The next morning we set off for Williamsburg. I have to admit that I had always wanted to see this town for myself so I was thrilled when Edward had suggested the slight detour. And my God was the room at the inn we were staying at gorgeous. It had this amazing sleigh bed made from cherry wood. It was still quite early in the day so Edward and I went exploring the town.

We spent the next couple of days learning more about colonial life. It wasn't much different than Mount Vernon, but Mount Vernon was infinitely much better. Williamsburg had the history still but had gone a little too much to the modern side with outlet malls and a Busch Gardens amusement park. We were both a little more than disappointed with our stay there and were eager to move onto Maine.

A couple of days later we found ourselves pulling into Ogunquit, Maine. I was so beautiful and reminded so much of Port Angeles. It was a small town and a bit of a tourist destination. Edward and I checked into the Inn where we were staying at then we decided to do some sightseeing until dinner. I had asked the woman that checked us in about a good place to get dinner and she suggested Bessie's. She said that they had the best Italian food in town. But it was while driving around town that we found what we didn't know we were actually looking for here.

A/N:

I know that is short and that I took a long time but really all four of my classes have work to turn in weekly. It is not going to get any better for the few weeks either but I'll try harder, I promise.

Some of you may know that there is an aid effort going on to help the people of Australia that have been hit by the floods. The link will be on my profile. I have written a future outtake for this story to submit. So if you want to know where these two are at several years in the future buy the compilation. There are a lot of great authors that are contributing so it is a worthwhile investment. I chose this one out of the many that are going on right now because I have a sister that lives in Australia, not the part that got flooded, thankfully. But they are her fellow countrymen all the same.

Also check out pictease on Monday because you will get to see a picture of what they found although I am sure you have all guessed already. Thanks for sticking with me and happy reading.


	19. Chapter 19

FYH Chapter 19

Perfection

EPOV:

We'd had another therapy session yesterday afternoon. It went quite well. It was mainly Mom, Dad, and I talking out a few things. Bella was amazing too. Her insights on how she could relate to my Mom's issues after losing her family really did help us to understand that people in grief don't always think straight or make the soundest decisions. Before we got off the phone she apologized. I mean a really apology and asked me to forgive her. She told me that she misses me. I knew that she did and if I am being honest with myself I had to admit that I missed her too. So I told her so. I also told her that we'd decided that we would definitely be coming to Phoenix as soon as Rose had the baby.

As soon as we pulled into Ogunquit I was completely mesmerized. The whole feel of the town was so welcoming and friendly. And then while driving around sight seeing we found it.

It was absolutely perfect. From the look on Bella's face I could tell that she was already in love with the house too. And we hadn't even seen the inside of it yet. It was two stories and looked big enough for a nice sized family, but it wasn't too big. And the best part was that it was right on the beach. It was exactly as Bella had wanted.

"I really want this house Edward." That was all that I needed to hear before I grabbed my phone and quickly dialed the number listed on the for sale sign posted in the yard. I ended up leaving a voicemail for the realtor to call me back. It was after all Friday afternoon. It was likely that she ducked out early to enjoy the festival herself.

We stood there admiring the house and the land that it was on. It even had a white picket fence. How cool was that? I could totally see us raising a family here. And Emmett and Rose wouldn't be far away now that they were moving to Boston. It would be close enough for weekend trips to visit to see our niece or nephew. And Alice and Jasper would still be close to Mom and Dad so they wouldn't lose their whole family in one shot. A part of me was scared that this would cause mom to have a set back. But as Bella had put it, she already knew that it was coming so it shouldn't be that big of shock to her. But we decided not to say anything until we had something concrete to tell.

We spent the evening sitting in the main room with the owners of the Inn that we were staying in along with the other guests. They had invited us all down for coffee and dessert after supper. Then we stayed and talked for awhile. After telling everyone our story about how we met and the extensive traveling, they all thought that it completely romantic and what wonderful memories we were creating. I had to agree on that part. I knew that I would never forget a minute of this trip. Mainly because I was writing everything down as we went on.

I was also about three-fourths of the way done with the book that I was writing. I was quite proud of it so far. I knew that Bella was eager to read it but I was hesitant so far. It wasn't that I did want or value her input, but I'd never really shared my work with anyone and I really wanted her to wait until it was finished so that she'd get the whole experience. I also had many other ideas floating in my head for projects to start in the future after I got this one done.

The next morning during breakfast at the Inn's dining room of Belgian waffles and homemade sausages the realtor called back about the house that we saw. Luckily she was available to show us the house and agreed to meet us there in a half hour. This just felt like it was meant to be. Little did I know who much more true that statement would become as our day continued.

We pulled up to the house just as the Realtor did. Her name was Amelia Martin and she reminded me a lot of Rose. She was a strong, confident woman and I took an instance like to her and so did Bella. As we walked into the house I heard Bella gasp and then I saw her take off in the direction of the kitchen so I followed her. She looked just like a kid in a candy store. After walking through the house admiring the view of the ocean out of the back windows and the amazingly huge master bedroom we started to talk price. It turns out that the house had only been listed yesterday morning so the realtor was surprised to get a call on it so soon. But we put in an offer that matched what the owners were asking. I didn't want to haggle over the cost, like I know that I am supposed to do. I wanted to make my wife's dreams come true and by watching her as we walked through this house, this was her dream home.

BPOV:

Home. That's exactly how I felt as I walked through the front door of that house. I hadn't felt that feeling since I was forced to move out of the house that my parents owned and in with the Weber's. I cried so hard the day that they told me that they had sold the house and then they went on about how the money was being handled like I really cared at that point. What good was the money when all I wanted was my mom and dad?

Luckily enough for me, when the Weber's had taken me in and became my legal guardians they set everything up in trust accounts that I would take control of on my eighteenth birthday. So I had the money to pay for the house since we'd recently agreed to each pay for half of whatever house we bought.

The first thing that I noticed was the kitchen. I could tell that it had been recently remodeled with all brand new appliances. I got hit with a sudden vision of me cooking meals in here with a handful of kids running around Edward and me. Edward put an offer in immediately and as we reluctantly headed back out of the house, Amelia told us that we should hear back from here before we left town on Monday.

We spent the day wondering around the town square observing and joining in on the festivities. We decided to participate in the town scavenger hunt which was going to be ongoing over the whole weekend. After taking in a couple of shops and finding a couple of clues we wandered over to the cookie walk that was being held for charity. Edward and I both loaded up on goodies that would be easy to travel with and munch on in the car. Then he happened to find a bookstore so we went in and that it where we discovered that Ogunquit really was meant to be our home. It was so unreal that everything would fall into place this easily. It didn't seem possible or even realistic that it could be this easy. But it was happening.

As I was wandering around the bookstore, and picking up a few interesting looking books, I noticed that Edward was talking to a guy behind the counter so I made my way over to them to put my books down while I continued to look around. Edward introduced me to the guy as David Michaels, the owner of the shop. His wife wanted to be able to retire soon and move south for warmer winter weather, but he was reluctant to close the only bookstore in town. He would really prefer to sell the store to someone, but while people in town agreed that they didn't want to lose the bookstore, no one was interested in taking it over. I knew what my husband was thinking before he even looked at me with that hopeful expression.

"Maybe you and your wife should talk this over before any decisions are made." Mr. Michaels said as he took in the look on my face. It must have been obvious because I was not immediately convinced that this was a great idea. On one hand we'd have income coming in and wouldn't be living off our trust accounts but on the hand how would we be able to manage owning and operating a shop while we were both in college? We finished looking around the bookstore and after we made our purchases we decided to take them back to our room at the Inn so we wouldn't have to lug them around all day.

Once we got into the room Edward grabbed me by the waist and pulled me over to the bed to sit with him. "You don't want to buy the shop, do you."

"Edward, it's not that I don't want to buy it, but more that there is a lot to consider before taking on a commitment like that. Like what about college?"

"What about it?"

"I want to go, Edward, I found this University of New England online last night that's only eighteen miles from here. I thought that we'd enroll for classes in the fall."

He looked at me with a strange expression on his face. "I think that we need to work on our communication skills because I don't remember saying that I wanted go to college."

And then it hit me and oh shit! I realized that I had fucked up. I had just assumed that he wanted to go to college just because I did.

"You're right. I just assumed that we'd be going to college together. But you don't do you?"

"No, I really don't. I've thought a lot about it and really I've been wavering on a decision but it really just doesn't appeal to me. It's not what I really want to spend my time doing for the next four years."

I snuggled into his side and he pulled us down to lie on the bed. "Fair enough. I'm sorry that I just assumed instead of talking with you. I shouldn't have done that."

"At least it was just an assumption and you didn't take it upon yourself to enroll the both of us-you didn't, did you?"

"No, Edward, I promise that I didn't enroll you in college behind your back." I said with a roll of my eyes. "I'm not that stupid."

Again he looked at me with a strange expression on his face, "You realize that you just called both of my parent's stupid idiots."

"Oh F***! I didn't mean it like that. And I never said the word idiot."

"I'm still telling them what you said and you're going to be in trouble."

"You better not Edward Cullen!" I said shifting until I was straddling him.

"Just how are you planning to stop me Bella Cullen?" He said as he flipped us over and pinned me to the bed.

"I can stop you by using the one thing about your life that I _can_ make executive decisions on."

"And what is that?"

"Forced celibacy."

"Maybe I'll wait to call my parents some other time."

"I thought so." I laughed as he leaned down to kiss me. We ended up not leaving the room again until dinner time.

EPOV:

We finally dragged our butts out of bed when Bella's stomach started growling. I wasn't really upset with her assumption that we were both intending to go to college a little irked maybe. But after all the last time that we had spoken about it we had both left it at undecided. But today after looking around that book store and talking with the owner I knew that running a small town bookstore was what I really wanted to do with my life. Maybe I'd take a class or two with Bella. That might be fun. But I had no intentions of going for an actual degree.

We went to a little café that we'd seen in the town square for supper and as the waitress was showing us to our table we spotted Amelia sitting with a group of people and she called us over and asked us to join her party. We said that we didn't want to intrude but she said that was nonsense that if we wanted to move to town we should start getting to know our neighbors. The café was apparently a popular place for locals to hit for supper. She told us that she was going to give us a call after supper and that she'd talked to the owner of the house and there was going to be a question of taking possession. The owners thought that given the current market it was going to take a few months to sell the place and went ahead with the listing but wouldn't be ready to vacate the house for a few months. We told her that that would be fine as we were still traveling and would accommodate their needs. She grabbed her phone and made the call that secured us as the owners of a beach front home in Maine. Now I just needed to tell my mother.

A/N:

Thanks for the support that I've received from everyone regarding the delays in updates due to school issues. I appreciate it greatly. Again, I submitted a future take to Fandom for floods. The link is on my ffn profile. A $5 donation gets you a compilation that includes 198 twilight authors and its get the people of Australia some assistance after the devastation from the floods. The picture of Bella and Edward's house can be found on last Monday's pictease and it is the avatar in my ffn. Profile. Thanks for sticking with me.


	20. Chapter 20

FYH Chapter 20

I knew that

EPOV:

Bella and I celebrated a little bit when we returned to our room that night. We had done so much pre-celebrating before we went to dinner that we were both starting to get a bit sore.

After Bella fell asleep, I got up, threw on my sweats, and sat at the table with my journals. It was just after three in the morning when I finally went back to bed. I wrapped my arms around my beautiful wife and fell asleep. When I woke later that morning, I heard Bella in the shower so I turned on the TV and watched some news while I waited for her to come out.

After I got a quick shower, we went down to breakfast. The hosts of the Inn sat down and mentioned that they heard that we bought a house in town.

"ahh…small town life." Bella sighed and I looked over to see that she had a contented look on her face as she smiled over her cup of coffee. "I've missed it so."

Bella got into a conversation about her hometown in Washington with them while let myself get lost in thought. This knowing everyone's business was something that I was going to have to get used to and fast.

"What are you thinking about over there?" Bella asked me and I noticed that it was just the two of us at the table again.

"That I need to call Mom, Dad, and the rest of the family and tell them about the house and you need to call Angela and her parents too."

"Oh God. I forgot to call her the other night. I've been so horrible at keeping in touch with her."

"She'll understand. So, you want to do this together or separately?"

"Why don't we do it on our own so we can get these calls made and get going to the festival."

Therefore, Bella went up to our room and I headed out to the porch swing and made the first call.

"Hey Mom. Happy Sunday! I didn't wake you did I?"

"No. Its eight here. I've been up. How are you and Bella?"

"We're great actually. I have something that I need to tell you." I heard her suck in a breath before she responded.

"What is it, dear?"

"We bought a house."

"A house. You bought a house." She said sounding amused for a second before she started laughing.

"What's so funny about Bella and me buying a house?"

"For a moment I thought you were going to tell me that she was pregnant or something like that. I've been expecting a call about a house. SO, uh, she's not pregnant then?"

"No. She's not. We're definitely not ready for that yet, we're thinking in a couple years though."

"You've talked about it then?"

"Yes we've discussed it once or twice."

"That's good, honey. You should enjoy being young a little while longer. Now tell me where my son and daughter-in-law will be settling down at?"

"In a tiny little town called Ogunquit, Maine."

"Maine?"

"Yep. I found my wife a beach house in a small town like she wanted."

"Wow. Maine. Good, you will be pretty close to where Emmett and Rose will be when they move to Boston then. Tell me about this town."

I told her everything that I knew so far including how friendly everyone was here. She sounded genuinely happy for us so, without thinking through what I was saying, I extended an olive branch that made her cry, by inviting her and dad to come visit us once we ourselves settled in, in a few months.

BPOV:

I was the worst kind of friend. It had been two days since I told Angela that I would call her back and I totally forgot all about it with the whole house and bookstore thing.

"I'm sorry" is the first thing that I blurt out when she answered.

"You should be. Finally dragged your ass out of that bed to call me back huh?" I knew that she was just teasing me.

"Hey I've made it out of bed, once or twice….I even have the house to prove it."

"Ummm…what about a house?"

"Edward and I just bought a house in Maine."

"In MAINE! You're moving a whole nation away from me?" I knew that she was going to be upset. We've been close our whole lives and I think she just assumed that I would be coming back to Washington after my trip. And really that was a consideration of mine before I met Edward, but I really had nothing but Angela and her parents tying me to Washington and I really felt the need for Edward and I to have a clean start somewhere new for both of us. I knew that while she was disappointed that I was going to be so far away she was also very happy for us.

I updated her on how Edward and his family were doing and she was always thrilled when she heard that they made new strides in repairing their relationships. I told her about the bookstore that he wanted to buy and that he didn't want to go to school. She actually agreed with him and reminded me that not everyone has to go to college to have success in their life. It all boils down to how you define a successful life.

"I swear you are sound more like your father every time I talk to you." I teased her. She said that she'd take that as a compliment she her father was such an awesome man. We talked a bit more about her classes and Ben. And I told her that for our Christmas presents to her and Ben; Edward and I wanted to pay for them to join us in New York City for New Years Eve. She got really excited at that prospect and told me that she'd let me know as soon as she talked to Ben and then their parents to get permission to come this far together. It saddened me again that I really didn't have anyone that cared where I went and with who like that.

I let Angela go and she promised to call her mom and tell her about Maine and the house. I laid down on my bed and cried until I heard Edward come into the room and lie down with me.

EPOV:

I walked back into our room after talking with Mom and found Bella on the bed in tears. I rushed over to her grabbed her into my arms and asked what was wrong. She told me that she missed her parents. Of course she did. She always would. Hell, even I'd miss my mother if something happened to her. But it had to be especially hard for her now that we had things decided and she would not be returning to the place that they had all called home together. I held her as she cried it all out and told her that we would go back to visit her parents grave very often. They would never be forgotten or left behind, not by us. Then she clutched me closer and cried a little more until she finally asked how my call with Mom had gone.

"She was quite disappointed." I told Bella.

"I thought that she would be. Did she put up a big fuss?"

"No. She was disappointed that you aren't pregnant."

"What? Why the hell would she think that I am pregnant?"

"Wishful thinking? I think that she wants a large collection of grandchildren to spoil."

"I am so not ready for that. But how did she take the news of us moving to Maine?"

"She was happy for us actually, in fact she was so cool about it that I…" I trailed off.

"That you what?'

Then I had to confess something to her. I told her that I blurted out an invitation for my mother to come here to visit us once we were moved in. She laughed at me and told me that she had to meet her mother in law face to face someday. I could not keep them apart forever. Especially if they were going to make jams and jellies together.

We decided to call my siblings together and honestly, Emmett was thrilled when he found out we were going to be so close. He yelled at Rose behind him that they now had weekend sitters for when they needed a break from the kid. Which earned him a nice thwack upside the head from Rose. Alice on the other hand tried to sound happy for me but I knew that she was sad that both of her brothers were moving away.

After about an hour of lying there Bella was feeling better and ready to go partake in the town festivities. We ended up running into some of the people that we'd met at dinner the night before and we all hung out together for the rest of the day. It was a strange feeling when it came to for everyone to part for the evening and we were saying goodbye. What really felt strange was the idea of actually moving on.

The next morning came and found Bella and I packing our bags into the car and preparing to endeavor onto the next leg of our journey. Amelia pulled up as we were about to climb into the car to take off.

"I'm glad that I caught you guys. Is there anyway you guys can come back next weekend to sign all the papers?"

"Of course. We'll be here." And with that we left our new hometown.

A/N:

I know it's a bit short but you're going to get an outtake too this week. I'm finally ready to write the Alice one that I promised a while back. Again, I did a submission for Fandom for Flood and you have until the end of March to donate only $5 and get an amazing compilation of some amazing writers.

Also, now that I've completed my Potter fic I have started a new twilight story called "A Second Life" I have three chapters written but have not posted anything as of yet. I wanted to see if anyway was interested in being a pre-reader and/or beta for it. PM or twitter me if interested.


	21. Chapter 21

FYH Chapter 21

Christmas Surprise

EPOV:

It's amazing how fast time will fly by. I had no idea where the last three weeks have gone to. We signed the papers on the house two weeks ago. We are still waiting for Emmett and Rose to get back to us on the papers from the bookstore. They promised me that they would have an answer for us when we called tomorrow. Little did they know, that phone call was not going to take place. All I needed to do now was to get my wife to agree to my plan and we'd be all set.

Up until this morning I had no absolutely no intentions of changing my mind about spending Christmas in New York, but my excursion out shopping on my own this morning had changed my perspective completely. I wasn't ready to call an end to the trip by any means, but I did want to see my family. I spent the whole morning watching family after family spending the day together and missing my parents and my siblings more and more. The crap that they pulled aside, it was Christmas, and if we were going to be truly serious about working on our problems and working towards forgiveness I could afford to extend an olive branch and go home for Christmas.

I had already gone so far as to call the airline and book us flights to Phoenix. We were going to be stuck on standby because lets face it, it was Christmas Eve and I was deciding to fly at the last minute. But something in my heart was telling me that this was the right decision. Bella and I had decided to spend the morning on our own so that we could each finish off our Christmas shopping, so I had yet to be able to run this by her but I was positive that she wouldn't object to this, she would support me in this decision. I was still in the process of packing our stuff when I heard Bella return to the suite. She was naturally a little surprised and bit wary to come back to the hotel to find me packing.

She was excited once she heard that we were going to Phoenix for Christmas. She had understood my position about seeing my family, I knew that she did, but she also encouraged me to let go of the pain and anger, even though as she put it, I was more than entitled to be as angry as I was. But from her point of view she also never wanted me to have to live with any regrets should anything happen to my family during our separation. We finished our packing quickly and took off for the airport hoping that everything would work out and we would actually make it to Phoenix for Christmas.

Five hours later we were still sitting at Kennedy waiting for a flight. We were eating from a Chinese restaurant in the food court area when Bella turned to me. "As happy as I am to finally be meeting my in-laws. Can we please not make sitting at an airport one of those Christmas traditions you were eager about starting?"

I couldn't help but laugh. This was definitely something that I did not plan to repeat if I could help it. The airport was not only hot and crowded, but most of the people were crabby at best, and the kids around us were cranky and bored. The airline gave us pagers to wear so that we could wander around and still be in touch.

I had just dumped our dishes into the trash when the pager went off and we rushed back. They had managed to get us two seats on a flight to Cincinnati, Ohio. We took it, but little did we know; we would still have a very long night ahead of us. We arrived in Ohio at about 8 PM., after a three hour wait there we got a flight to Kansas City, MO. Then we were sent to Houston, TX before we finally made it.

We didn't make it to Phoenix until about 9AM, we were exhausted, and in serious need of showers, but we both felt that it was worth it. We grabbed a taxi and made our way to my parent's home pulling up in front of the house forty-five minutes later.

When we pulled up in front of the house I heard Bella gasp. She knew that my family had money but even I'd admit that this was a huge house and screamed that we were rich. I knew the house that she described growing up in was a tiny two bedroom. Hell, even the house that we bought was tiny compared to this house. We grabbed our suitcases out of the trunk of the cab and let ourselves into the house. We put down our luggage in the front hall and I quietly led Bella to the sitting room where I knew everyone would gather before brunch.

We stood in the doorway taking in the scene before us. Emmett was at the TV with Rose and Jasper; they were arguing and trying to hook up the computer to it. Dad was sitting in his favorite chair laughing at them. Alice and Mom were nowhere in sight so I assumed that they must have been in the kitchen cooking. I shuddered at the thought of my sister in the kitchen. I took a moment to appreciate just how much I had missed them and never realized it before I spoke up.

"That computer won't be necessary anymore Emmett." Every head in the room spun around in shock at hearing my voice. It took all of half a second before the whole group pounced on us hugging the life out of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose run out of the room, returning a few moments dragging my mother behind her. "You'll find out what's up in a second, Mom. Just come on!"

The second that my mother saw me standing in the doorway holding Bella's hand her hand flew to her mouth and she stumbled back a couple of steps in shock. "Tell me they are really there." She finally said with tears streaming down her face. "Tell me that I am not imagining that they are standing there." She started inching toward me slowly as if she thought that if she moved too fast towards me I'd bolt out the door and disappear again.

"We're really here mom." I said moving forward to hug her. I held her for a full five minutes as she sobbed in my arms.

She just kept repeating the same thing over and over; "I'm sorry, Edward. I so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Shh, I know Mom. I love you. It will be ok."

"I love you too."

I pulled away and reached back to take Bella's hand again and pulled her to me. "Mom, Dad, this is my Bella." Mom and Dad both hugged Bella and welcomed her into their home. After introducing Bella to Alice and Jasper, Bella decided to follow Alice and Mom back to the kitchen.

"Dude," Emmett started hugging me again, "What the hell happened? Not that I am not thrilled to see you but I thought you wanted to do the video conference thing."

"I did; this was just a last minute decision. A very last minute decision. We have literally just spent the last 20 hours at various airports trying to get here."

"So now that you are here, may I ask how long we have you here for?"

"We have to leave tomorrow. We have friends that are meeting us in New York for New Years." I saw Jasper squirm at the mention of New York and I intended to ask him about that, but that would wait until later, there was something else that I really needed to do before I could really relax and enjoy the holiday.

"Then I will just be thrilled that you are here today,son. We've all missed you terribly."

"I missed you guys too, Dad. More than I actually realized I did. But we aren't done traveling yet. There are still a lot of places that we want to see. And even when we are done traveling we are going to be in Maine. However, first things first, I really need a shower and I'm sure that my wife would like one as well, so I am going to go pry her away from mom's grip and we'll be back down soon."

"Good luck with that." Rose spoke up still sniffling from her spot on the couch. I walked over and kissed the top of her head before making my way to the kitchen. The scene I found before me melted my heart. It was something that I wanted to see repeated many, many times over during our life together.

ESMEPOV:

When I woke up this morning, it was hard for me to reconcile that it was Christmas. My Edward was not going to be here to celebrate with us. I missed my son every day. I justified his absence by reminding myself that if he had gone to college that he would have been gone anyway.

I made my way down to the kitchen to start the brunch that I had planned. I started a pot of coffee as I got to work on the pastry that I always make for Christmas. Erin our latest housekeeper had requested some time off to visit her family for the holidays and Carlisle and I were happy to oblige. So the kitchen was all mine for the next two weeks.

I wasn't in the kitchen long before Carlisle stumbled in and collapsed at the breakfast bar laying his head down on his arms. I knew that he had been held up late at the hospital last night with an emergency surgery.

"How late were you last night?" I asked as I handed him a cup of coffee.

"I got in around two. I swear I feel so old these days. Maybe it's time for me to start thinking about retirement. What do you think?"

"What do you do with all of your free time if you retire?"

"I don't know. Spend every waking moment with you."

"What would you say to a trip similar to the one that Edward and Bella are taking?"

"I think that I'd like that."

"How soon would you like to retire?"

"How about a year from now? Give them time to replace me at the hospital and the board."

"That sounds good to me." With that, my husband kissed my cheek and went back upstairs for a shower leaving his empty cup sitting on the counter. Yes, well, if we were going to have so more time together we were going to have some ground rules. I was not going to spend my days following him to clean up after him. My children were raised and gone. That got me started thinking about Edward again wondering how heand Bella were spending their Christmas morning.

An hour later as I was putting my strata into the oven I heard Alice and Jasper arriving. Rose and Emmett weren't too far behind them. Alice joined me in the kitchen to keep me company. I love my daughter dearly but that girl and kitchens do not mix. She jumped up on the counter and started munching on some fresh fruit that I had sitting there before pulling our traditional bottle of wine out of her bag and said that she thought that it was time to start celebrating the holiday. I figured that was why Rose opted to stay in the sitting room with the guys, Carlisle and Jasper weren't big drinkers and I knew that Emmett was abstaining while she was pregnant.

I had just finished my first glass and was about to pour a second when Rose came running into the kitchen grabbing my hand and dragging me out. I asked her what she was doing, I had cooking to do, and then I saw him. My Edward was standing in the doorway to the sitting room with a beautiful brunette by his side.

I started crying as he held me. There were moments in the last few months that I was sure that I would never see my son in person again. That no matter what I did to apologize and make amends that he would always keep me at arm's length. But here he was. After he extricated himself from my grip, I turned to Bella standing next to him smiling. She was absolutely breath taking. Even more so than in the pictures they had sent back.

I had to return to the kitchen sooner than I would have liked, but I had to check on the food so that our breakfast would not burn. This time Bella followed Alice and I back to the kitchen. I grabbed her into another hug after we reached the kitchen and thanked her for bringing my son home, then she informed me that it was actually all Edward's decision. He was ready to come back.

We poured her a glass of wine and she offered to help cook but I declined so she leaned back against the counter next to where Alice was sitting and we engaged in a great conversation that included a lot of laughter.

I was telling Bella about the time in Alice's freshman home-economics class that the teacher started the year off with the sewing module and Alice was so good at sewing that she was the top of the class and quickly became the teacher's favorite. That was until they got to the cooking module. After Alice's very first concoction landed five people, including the teacher in the emergency room with food poisoning she was asked to sit out of the cooking section. She got put in charge of designing the table layouts instead.

It was in that fit of laughter that Edward found us when he entered the kitchen moments later. "Hate to interrupt your fun, ladies, I just thought that Bella might want to shower and change after spending all night changing."

After they went upstairs, Alice started bouncing in her seat, "I can't believe they're here!" She squealed.

"I know!" I squealed just as loudly.

After brunch, we all made our way back to the sitting room to open presents. We had gifts for Edward and Bella that we were intending to send to them just as soon as we could. We may not have known exactly where they were but we did know that they were jumping around a lot lately.

I sat back and watched my son with Bella as we opened our gifts. Last Christmas I made the worst mistake of my life and nearly lost my son over it. I really did believe that he loved her and that she loved him. I really did think that it was the right thing to do. But now with hindsight, I know that I should have talked to my son first. I should have let him make the decisions that affected his life.

I had been looking at the photos from last Christmas recently and I never realized how sad he looked, almost despondent. Especially the picture of him putting the ring on her, I failed to notice that day that my son was crying while I celebrated his engagement to that wretched woman. I was determined somehow, someway; I was going to make it up to him.

EPOV:

I was never a materialistic person but I think that I will cherish the gifts that my family gave us for a very long time. My father, the man that abhorred my love of writing, who thought it was an absolute waste of my time, who forbade me from writing growing up, gave me monogrammed, leather bound writing journals. I was absolutely speechless. His gift was more that just the physical manifestation of paper, it was the encouragement and acceptance that I had always sought from him and had never received, until now.

After all the Christmas presents had been opened Mom told us that there was one more for Bella and I. It wasn't really a Christmas gift though; it was their wedding gift to us. Bella and I sat there a little confused as they all left the room and came back only moments later, each carrying a book in their hands. Dad was the first one to approach us and handed me the book that he was carrying. When I saw what he really had handed me I was left completely speechless.

It was a scrapbook photo album filled with the pictures that I had sent back. The one that Dad handed me was the first as it contained the pictures from San Diego. As we took them all and looked through them we couldn't help but realize all the hard work that had gone into them. They were not only filled with the pictures but fun facts about the places that we had been to. There was one that was dedicated completely to our wedding.

That is when I knew for an absolute fact that coming home for Christmas had been the right decision. It was the first Christmas in a long time that I could remember being happy about spending time with my family. I was so amazed and thrilled with the scrap books that I couldn't stop thanking them, and neither could Bella. I looked over as my wife jumped up from the couch and hugged my mother. This was going to be the Christmas that I would remember for the rest of my life as being my all time favorite. It was the Christmas that my family finally accepted each other for who we really were and not who we wanted each other to be.

A/N:

Are you surprised? I was, but Edward insisted. I wanted to let you all know that I have written another future take for charity. This time it's the Tsunami relief. You can find the link on my profile and many other places around the fandom. Some great authors are donating stories and the people of Japan really need help. The future take that I wrote was referenced in the one I submitted for the Australian Floods compilation. And its longer than I usually write ending at over 3600 words.


	22. Chapter 22

FYH Chapter 22

More Christmas

BPOV:

To say that I was shocked when I returned to the hotel after shopping and found Edward packing our bags, wanting to go home for the Christmas would be the understatement of the century. But, here we are in Phoenix. I don't know what shocked me more at arriving in Arizona, the intense heat on Christmas Day or the size of the house that Edward grew up in.

After shocking the hell out of everyone with our surprise arrival, I decided to follow Esme and Alice to the kitchen while Edward hung out with the guys in the sitting room. There was talk about finding a game on TV and that was definitely my cue to find something else to do. I offered to help Esme finish the brunch but she refused. Instead, she poured me a large glass of wine and started entertaining me with stories of Edward, Emmett, and Alice growing up. Note to self, never let Alice near my kitchen if she ever comes to visit.

I wasn't with the girls very long before Edward came to find me. He took me upstairs to his room so that we could clean up and I have to say that his room shocked me. Nothing in there represented the man that I have come to know and love. There were medical journals and old college textbooks, mostly medical and most likely had belonged to his father, but nothing that was personal or told me anything of who Edward was. There were only two posters on the wall; one of the table of elements and the other was a diagram of the human body. The whole room was just cold and impersonal.

"I really didn't spend much time in here. It was really just a place to sleep."

"So where did you spend your time?"

"I spent most of my free time at the library. It was the only place that I could really go to be alone and not have to delve into too much detail about where I was and what I had been doing."

It was then that an errant thought hit me and I realized that we had never really talked about our personal tastes in decorating and that we know had a house that we were going to need to furnish. Now was not the time to get into such a heavy topic, not when he made a big step by coming home. I decided that we could forego a talk interior decorating and instead talk about something more pertinent to when happening at the moment.

"How are you doing?"

"Honestly? I am a bit overwhelmed. No, I am a lot overwhelmed, but in a good way. I didn't really realize just how much I was missing all of them."

"Yeah, that will sneak up on you."

"How are _you_ doing?" he asked me now.

"For me it's neither here nor there, you know. I miss my parents but there is nothing that I can do about it."

"Maybe sometime soon, we could fly to Washington, and visit their graves and put flowers out for them."

"I'd really like to do that. Thank you."

"I love you, Bella. I would do anything to ensure your happiness."

"I love you too, Edward."

"You know your parents are the reason that I decided to do this. The more I thought about how quickly and suddenly your parents were taken from you the more that I wanted to see mine again."

Esme was just putting the final touches on the meal as we made it downstairs after our showers. I was intent on staying in the background and observing my new family more than anything but they obviously had different plans and kept engaging me in conversations by asking me about my past and the town where I grew up.

We got into lengthy discussions about the pros and cons about living in a small town. I was really happy that we had chosen such a small place to live. Edward told his parents that he was excited to try small town life after living in such large cities all his life. I could understand their concern; I really could, because this was a huge lifestyle change. I had seriously considered moving to a large city like St. Louis, but I really could not see myself living like that. I would have, though, if Edward had really desired to. I would have given it a fair shot for him.

When they presented us with our wedding gift of the scrapbooks, I could not help but sob as I hugged my mother in law. Edward and I spent the better part of the afternoon going through the books with his family surrounding us while we told them more of the details of our trip. We especially concentrated on Reno and our wedding. I could see the looks of sadness in their eyes that they had not been invited to our wedding.

"Hey Edward, Jasper told me that you are headed to New York next. So how long are you going to be there?" Alice suddenly asked.

"Uh, we'll be there at least through New Years. We have friends meeting us there."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, Jasper and I are going to be there for New Years, it was our gift to each other for Christmas, we've always wanted to do the whole Times Square thing and all, and I just thought that maybe…"

"We should definitely get together while we can. We're, uh, leaving the country after New York."

"Where are you going?" Esme asked genuinely intrigued.

"We're going everywhere, Mom." Edward laughed. "But we are starting with Portugal."

"We've actually been trying to plan out this portion of the trip. I don't want to end up lost or something in the middle of Europe." I shuddered.

"But, honey, I promised you that I would save you from any vampires if we should end up in Transylvania." Edward joked as he leaned over and bit my neck.

"Yeah, but who is going to save me from you." I replied giggling and playfully swatting him away. Edward just laughed. I excused myself to the bathroom.

When I came out, I found Edward waiting outside the room. He pushed my hair back and checked to see if he'd left a mark before pinning me against the wall and telling me that he loved me by kissing me deeply and passionately. After he pulled away he told me that he would be back in the sitting room in a minute and then he continued down the hall to the stairs that led up to his bedroom.

When I turned to return to the sitting room, I saw Carlisle there with an amused look on his face and I immediately blushed.

"I've never seen my son so happy. I cannot remember the last time I saw him smile or laugh as he has today. I was looking at old pictures not long after he left and I never realized how sad he was. And I have to own my part of the blame in that. You make him happy. No. You make him very happy, complete. Thank you, Bella. I think that you saved our family from certain destruction that we did not see coming when you came into our lives. I am honored to call you my daughter." Then he hugged me, kissed the top of my head, and said, "Welcome to our family, dear."

EPOV:

I came back downstairs from my room and found my dad and Bella in the hall talking. Dad turned and walked away before I could approach them. When I reached Bella I realized that she was on the verge of tears. I was immediately concerned with Dad could have possibly said to upset her. I thought that everything had been going well. So I asked her what was wrong and she just smiled up at me and told me that it just felt damn good to have a family again, she reached up and kissed me, and we left it at that.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening playing games and watching old Christmas movies. We were having so much fun that none of us wanted the night to end. My brothers and sisters were extremely reluctant to leave but by 2AM Bella and I needed to get some sleep as we got very little in our attempt to get to Phoenix. So we hugged everyone good night and retired to my room.

As soon as we got into bed Bella seemed to become very anxious. "Edward, did, uh, you and Tanya ever, um, fool around, in this bed?" That was not a question that you want your wife to ask you when you are exhausted and it is completely possible that the answer is going to upset her.

"Yes." I sighed.

"Oh. I see." Then she was quiet. I looked down at her face to see how upset but it looked more as if she was contemplating something.

"I'm sorry. I totally forgot all about it. We can move to the guest room if you want, if it would make you more comfortable. Please tell me what are you thinking?"

"I was thinking that it is time for you to make some new memories, hopefully some memories that you will actually remember." She replied as she turned to face me with a devilish grin on her face.

"Isabella Cullen, do you know that I remember every second of every touch of every time that I have that I have ever made love to you. Like, the first night we met, when I showed up to your room and kissed you I could still faintly taste the amoretto from the drink you had had at the bar. I remember the way the you felt in between the satin of the satin sheets in San Diego, the feel of your legs wrapped around me and my hands on your ass the first time we took a shower together, and how intoxicating your shampoo was when you leaned you head on my shoulder. I remember the way it felt the first time you were on top and how mesmerized I was with your breasts and how I just could not keep my hands off them. With that being said, we made quite a few new memories in my childhood bed for the next two hours. They were memories that neither one of us would ever forget.

Luckily we had thought to put our pajamas on before going to sleep because just as soon as I had fallen asleep someone came knocking at the door. My father poked his head cautiously in the door and asked if it was ok to enter. When I told him that it was, he came over and sat on bed beside me.

"I'm sorry to wake you but I got called into the hospital and I wanted to be able to say goodbye." He whispered now noticing that Bella was still sound asleep. "I love you, Edward, I know that I haven't always showed you that I did, but I do."

"I know, Dad, I love you too." 

"She's a wonderful young lady, take good care of her Edward."

"I will. You and Mom will have to come visit us when we get settled in, in Maine."

"We will. I have to go. I know it will be hard once you hit Europe, but keep in touch as best you can. Both of you." 

"We will Dad." Then he hugged me and left for the hospital. A few hours later both Bella and I groaned as the alarm went off and we needed to get up. I fully intended to get in a couple of naps during our flights.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper waiting when we finally made it downstairs for breakfast. Sitting at the table eating was so surreal. It was as if everything had changed but was still the same. I sat back as everyone helped themselves to the food that was served family style and chatted about their day ahead and what was on their agendas. Rose was just mainly glad that her morning sickness was starting to subside and loading up her plate as even Emmett stared at her in awe. Alice and Rose were going shopping in hopes of finding things for the baby and the nursery. Emmett and Jasper were going to the driving range to relax. I asked Mom what she had planned for the day and she said that she was hoping that we would allow her to take us to the airport and wait with us for our flight, but only if it was alright with us, if not, she'd go shopping with Alice and Rose.

It was roughly an hour later as Bella, Mom, and I were in her car headed for the airport when I noticed that Bella had been especially quiet ever since breakfast.

"What wrong, Bella?"

"I just can't shake the feeling I've forgotten something."

"Don't worry about it. It can't be too important if you can't remember. Besides if Mom finds anything, she and Dad can ship it to us, we'll be in New York long enough."

"You're right."

After checking in and handing over our luggage, we got some coffee, sat down, and waited to board the plane. A short forty-five minutes later, our flight was called to board the plane. I promised mom that I'd call soon.

Mom grabbed me into a bone-crushing hug before I could walk away, "I love you, Edward, please never forget that."

"I love you too mom," and then she released me and moved onto Bella hugging her and telling her that she loved her too. She reminded me that we had a therapy session that week and then my wife and I turned to board the plane and I left my family behind once again. This time was different though. This time there was hope and a sincere promise and intent to return.

Our flight arrived in New York only an hour before Angela and Ben's was due in so we waited for them at the airport. There was another round of hugs and professions of love at the airport when Angela and Ben finally arrived at the baggage pickup.

We grabbed a cab and made our way to our hotel. It was upon entering our room that Bella suddenly remembered what it was that she had forgotten. The answer was staring right at her from the dresser in our room where her birth control pills were laying. I had forgotten to put them in her bag when I packed it. Oh, God, please don't let my wife kill me.

A/N:

A couple of things, first, we are pretending that airport security isn't as impossibly tight as it currently is in our post 9/11 world. Second, don't forget to don't the Tsunami Relief compilation. It is going to be great. The link is on my profile. I am still editing the outtake and am currently at 4100 words. Unfortunately, this will be the last update until mid May. We are running up to finals and I need to concentrate on them right now. So, Happy Easter (for those that celebrate) and enjoy!


	23. Chapter 23

FYH Chapter 23

OOPS!

BPOV:

Edward looked completely panicked when we walked into the room and saw the birth control pills sitting on the dresser. How neither of us saw them laying there when we left the other day is beyond me. In all honesty, though, we were in quite a hurry to get to the airport to attempt to catch our flight the other day. Edward started apologizing profusely; he knew that I was not ready to have kids. We were only nineteen; we would have years ahead of us to have children. I don't mean to sound selfish but I really want to see Europe and finish our world tour before settling down that much. I explained to him that my OB had always told me that if I missed a pill to double up the next day and I should be fine.

"Should be? That doesn't sound like a guarantee, Bella." He said while pacing the room.

"Well, its not. But neither is taking the pill on time."

"That's true. What if you do get pregnant? Would it really be that bad? I mean I know that you are not ready, but what if it happens?"

"If it happens, then it happens, I guess." I sighed. And that was the end of that conversation as Angela and Ben knocked on our door wanting to go get something to eat. I also needed to try to convince Angela to let me take her shopping. Edward and I had purchased tickets to several Broadway plays and she and I were both going to need new outfits for the shows.

Since we all had wanted to do all the touristy things that we could manage to fit in, we decided to eat an early dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Convincing Angela to allow me to buy her the outfits was worse than pulling teeth. You would think that I was demanding indentured servitude in exchange for purchase of the clothes. She was adamant that it wasn't necessary to buy new clothes nor was she going to allow me to pay for them. After all, Edward and I did pay for their plane tickets and the hotel, especially at the prices that the Waldorf Astoria charges she had argued. But, we were finally able to negotiate that I would buy her only two outfits for the four shows that we had tickets for and both outfits had to be off the clearance rack, if possible. She would not allow me to pay hundreds of dollars for outfits that she may never use again. She seemed even more placated when I told her that I had found out that in winter a pant suit or slacks and a sweater was perfectly acceptable to wear due to the cold weather. Those were outfits that she would definitely get some use out of when she returned home.

The boys decided that they were going to follow us around and help us shop. Or should I say they were going to follow us and gossip and whine until finally we told them to go wait at the "40 Carrots", one of the stores restaurants and get some dessert while we finished shopping. Neither Angela nor I were really avid shoppers but it did take a few hours to find the right outfits that made us happy. But what took the most time was our gossiping and girl talk. I wanted have a chance to catch up on her wedding plans even though the wedding wasn't going to be for another year and a half. She had asked me to be her maid of honor and I giddily accepted. She told me that she was gathering things little by little so that they could spread out the cost and not be hit with huge bills from the wedding all at once. I offered to help her with the wedding, between Edward's and my money we could easily help out. She refused my offer but did relent in letting me pay for my own dress. Then we got to talking about the people back home.

"Oh my God, Bella, you will never believe who I ran into the other day!" Angela exclaimed giddily

"Who?" I said just as giddily.

"Lauren Newton. And she was working at the McDonalds."

"Really. Miss high and mighty 'I'd never allow that garbage in my body' is now selling it?"

"Actually she was cleaning the bathrooms when I saw her and the food isn't that only new thing in her body. She's very, very pregnant."

"NO WAY!" I exclaimed a little too loud and garnering some unwanted attention to us. "I wonder who the father is…no….I wonder if she is still wondering who the father is." At that we laughed again before moving on to find some new shoes for our new outfits.

I felt bad for the poor baby that was going to have Lauren for a mom. It also made me think about the forgotten pills again, I wanted to tell Angela and get her opinion and reassurance but I also really didn't want to make a big deal out of it. So I just kept my mouth shut.

We made our purchases and made our way up to the restaurant to meet up with the guys where we found that they had gone ahead and ordered dessert for us as well. When we finally made it back to the hotel we were exhausted but not too tired to have a drink and hang out for a bit.

After Ben and Angela retired to their room for the night, Edward and I got ready for bed ourselves. More than just being tired, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to have sex as a precaution. I was afraid that not wanting a baby with him right now was hurting his feelings but there were so many things that I wanted to do; that I wanted _us _to do. If I was being completely honest, a baby wouldn't stop me from traveling or going to college, but it would make it a lot more difficult.

The next morning we slept in late and joined Ben and Ang for brunch in the hotel restaurant called "Oscar Brasserie". Edward was in a strange mood all day. He wasn't mad or rude or anything like that, but more quiet and contemplative. I worried about what was going on in his head, but he said that he was fine and there was nothing wrong. So, I returned to enjoying the limited time that I had with Ben and Angela.

We decided to enjoy a leisurely stroll through Central Park and really not do much but talk and explore the park and the city. Alice and Jasper would be coming into town tomorrow and they would be hanging out with us and we were, again, going to enjoy doing all the touristy things that we could.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for an early dinner and the show. We had made reservations at the Russian Tea Room and then we were off to see "Jersey Boys" on Broadway. I was really as I had wanted to see that show since I first heard about it.

When we got back to the room, Edward told me to go ahead and take my shower first. There was something that he wanted to do first. As I stepped out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, I found Edward sitting at the table furiously writing in his journal. I just sighed and turned to get dressed.

EPOV:

When I heard my wife sigh I felt really bad. I was hurting her feelings. I was just trying to figure out why I was feeling so sad and disconnected today and writing was always the best way for me to that . It's not like I was really intent on being a father right now or anything. I totally understood her arguments against it. She wanted a college education and she felt that a baby would only hinder that. I was not ready to be a father any more than she was ready to be a mother, I agreed with her on that.

So, I thought that writing down my feelings in my journal would help me sort everything out. What I finally concluded was that it wasn't that I necessary wanted a baby right now, but I wanted to give her a family in the abstract. I was missing mine since we left Arizona yesterday. I sure as hell knew that Bella missed her parents terribly. But, a baby wasn't the answer to this question. It would not be fair to a child, to be brought into the world, to replace other people that their parents had lost.

With no concrete solution coming to my mind, I put down my journal, walked over to my wife, and put my arms around her waist; kissing her neck. She giggled, as I knew that she would. I was fully aware that she was ticklish in that one spot. I knew where all her ticklish spots were and I made myself a promise that I would visit each and everyone of those ticklish spots when we returned to the room later tonight. But for now, I was satisfied with a mere kiss and the smile on her face after I reached into my pocket and pulled out the new pearl necklace that I had bought her and fastened them around her neck.

The other surprise that I had for her that evening was that I had ordered a limo to drive us around. I really did not feel safe or comfortable taking the subway or trying to get a cab after we left the show later that night. My safety excuse was enough to stop Angela and Bens' little fits that we had already spent too much money on them and the limo was completely unnecessary. My wife, on the other hand, knew that it was really just another part of my plan to spoil her for the rest of our lives but wisely kept her smirking mouth shut and settled for glaring at me while shaking her head. Of course, the smirk did not help her appear serious at all.

The dinner at the Russian Tea Room was absolutely amazing. We all tried caviar for the first time. It was so funny because we were all excited to try it when we order it, then when the waiter actually put it on the table, none of us wanted to be the first to eat it. We all just kept looking at each other and saying things like "You first, you're our guest" and "Oh, no, I couldn't be so rude, you're paying, you should have the first bite." In the end it was Bella that was brave enough to take that first bite. I could tell right away that she didn't really care for it but she assured us that it wasn't all that bad.

"You'll never eat that again, will you?" I asked before I took my bite.

"Um. No. I guess my palate just isn't that sophisticated. But I really don't see us having the opportunity to get caviar much in Ogunquit, anyways." She laughed.

As soon as I took my bite I had to disagree with her, that stuff was absolutely disgusting. Ben agreed with me while Angela absolutely loved it.

"I always knew you were weird." Bella teased her.

"Says the gypsy woman!" Angela teased right back.

"I can't be considered a gypsy anymore, we bought a home."

"Yes, a home 3000 miles away from me." And that is when the conversation got heavy. "Mom cried when I told her."

"Angela, you all knew that I was never actually intending to return to Forks. There are nothing but memories, shadows, and ghosts for me there."

"That doesn't mean that we didn't harbor some hope that you would come home."

"Are you returning to Forks for sure, Angela?" I asked.

"I am planning on it, yes."

"And if Ben was offered a job in, let's say, Florida, would you still return to Forks or follow him to Florida."

"I get what you're saying, I do. I'm just going to miss you terribly."

"I'm going to miss all of you too. You and your parents will have to come see our home once we get settled in. okay?" 

"Ok." Angela acquiesced.

Before we knew it our dinner was over and it was time to get back in the limo and head off to the theater. The show was completely worth the hype, and the cost of the tickets. We were having such a great time that we were singing some of the songs in the limo all the way back to the hotel. Even though we were probably annoying the driver to death, it was once of the best, most carefree nights that I had ever had.

Angela and Ben stopped by our room for a brief nightcap. A very brief night cap. Bella got up at one point and whispered something in Angela's ear. I saw Angela nod with a confused look on her face, and then Bella looked over at me briefly before turning back to Angela, kissing her on the cheek, and whispering something else. Angela started laughing and grabbed Ben's hand and announced that it was time for them to go to bed. As soon they were gone my wife literally jumped me, knocking me to the ground in the doorway as she growled something that sounded a little like "way too long".

By the next morning, we had finally made it too bed, even if we didn't get much sleep. We had to be at the airport by noon to meet Alice and Jasper. When I asked her what she said to Angela, she laughed

"First I asked Angela if she knew that I loved her and that I have missed her, a whole hell of a lot. Then I told her that I wasn't trying to be rude but, it had been too long since I had fucked my husband and unless she and Ben wanted to see their second live so for the evening… I never past that before she started laughing and dragged Ben out of here."

I was laughing hysterically at this point. "Rude or not, I am really glad that you did it. Two days is definitely way too long. But we need to get up and get going if we are going to make it to the airport on time."

A couple of hours later I was nearly pummeled to the ground again when my sister came barreling at me.

A/N: I am back and officially a college graduate. Now, I just need a job…anyone got a spare accounting job in their pocket? But I am not done yet. I am going on to get my masters and my doctorate. I am going to say that, no; Bella is not pregnant at this time. I just really needed a reason for the topic to come up for them to really talk about what they want family wise and when. A quick reminder that I did write a Future-take for fandom for tsunami that goes out this week. I am also going to get working on my new story at some point this week. It is going to be quite a bit different from this one. If anyone is interested in being a beta or pre-reader please let me know.


	24. Chapter 24

FYH Chapter 24

New York State of Mind

BPOV:

I watched with laughter as Alice nearly tackled Edward to the ground. Then she turned on me and nearly squeezed the life out of me.

"ALICE!" Edward chastised her. "Let her go before you hurt her. Geez, we just saw you the other day you know."

"I know. But I missed you. So where are we going to first?"

"The hotel." I replied. "We thought that you two would want to drop your luggage and get freshened up." 

"Sounds good to me." She answered as we watched Edward and Jasper go for the luggage. We had a hotel limo drive us here to make it easier in terms of the luggage and space in the car.

As Edward drove back to the hotel, I sat in the back and talked with my new sister in law. I was telling her about all the plans that we had for the week, from the shows that we had tickets for to the touristy things that we wanted to do. I told her that we had made reservations for all of us to go see the statue of Liberty.

"Wow. You have to make reservations to see the statue now?"

"Yes. Especially if you want to go up to the crown. It's reservation only and they only let 240 per day go up."

"What day are we going there?" She asked nervously looking at her husband who was quietly talking to Edward in the front seat.

"Actually, we made the reservations for the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, good!" She looked so relieved by that. I wondered what that was about.

Over dinner, Jasper and Alice told us the real reason that they came to New York. Wow. If it panned out the way that Jasper thought it would, it would be amazing for his career. But, I had to worry about Esme's reaction. Her last child was considering leaving her now. I did not fail to notice that since Edward met me, all three of her children had decided to leave Phoenix. Although, I had to admit that it would be rather nice to have more family near us after we complete our move to Maine.

Tonight, however, we were going forget everything and go hit a popular night club that the concierge told us about. The guys were adamant that no one was to wonder off alone. Even the guys were to follow that rule. It just wasn't considered safe and we were a little bit afraid of some getting mugged or attacked. We had a wonderful night of drinking and dancing and enjoying each others company.

The next morning we stumbled out of bed a little bit hung over. Edward ordered coffee and brought it to me in the shower. It these little things that he does that show me how much he loved me.

We met up with the others for a bit of breakfast. Jasper ate quickly and then with a kiss to his wife, he took off to meet up with his professor-friend. Since the weather was unseasonably warm today with near record a high 65 degrees, we all decided to take the opportunity to get some fresh air. We donned some light jackets and took off for quick shopping for some essentials before heading into the park. Apparently, we were not the only ones looking to take advantage of the nice weather. The park was crowded with other families.

We spread out the blankets that we just purchased and us girls sat around gossiping while Edward and Ben played with our new Frisbee. Jasper's meeting was only going to take a couple of hours so Alice texted him with our location so that he could join us when he was free. When Jasper finally joined us we ate the picnic lunch that we had picked up at a deli close to the hotel. After lunch we spent a couple of hours playing three on three football and then when we were tired we all sprawled out on the blankets and just talked about everything and nothing until the sun went over and the temperature started to drop and we were getting cold.

As we left the park, we all decided to go our separate ways until dinner. Edward and I wanted to stop by a one-hour photo shop and I knew that Alice and Jasper needed some time to talk before their dinner. They were going to meet with the department head of the professor that was attempting to entice Jasper into coming to NYU. So we really would not be seeing them for the rest of the evening. It was a good thing that our tickets to see Mary Poppins were not until tomorrow night. It was Alice's wish to see the show and Jasper would have been in the dog house big time if she missed her chance to see the live show on Broadway. The rest of us decided to just take in a quiet dinner and a movie.

If the goal of the evening was just to relax and unwind, I have to say we achieved it splendidly. After Edward and I retired to our room, we ran a hot bath in the oversized marble tub and relaxed together talking about everything that we wanted to see in Europe and discussing the issue of what we were going to do with our car. Neither of us thought it was safe to leave it in New York unattended for months. We finally decided to ask Alice and Jasper if they would drive it to Phoenix and we would fly there to pick it up after our overseas trip was over. Actually, that should make his family happy since that would bring the knowledge that they were guaranteed another visit after we returned to the states. Besides, we left our photo albums there because we couldn't bring them all onto the plane with us and it would give us the opportunity to retrieve them and any new ones that Esme made us with all the new pictures that I was hoping to send to her of us in New York, Europe, and Asia.

The next day we met up for an early breakfast before one of the hotel limos took to the dock to board the ferry that would first take us to Ellis Island and then off to the Liberty Island. Edward and I had arranged for us to take the rangers guided tour and then to see the movie on the history of Ellis Island. We still had plenty of time after all that before we were due at Liberty Island so we bummed around the gift shop for a little while. Edward bought me an Ellis Island snow globe and the official Ellis Island cookbook and I bought him a baseball cap and travel mug.

By then we were all getting hungry so we set off for the ferry knowing that that there was a snack shop on board. By the time that the ferry docked at Liberty Island, Edward and I were ready to attempt to find a way to throw Alice and Angela from the crown of the statue. They had decided that the ferry ride was the perfect time to tell any and every embarrassing story about us as we were growing up. It was not that Edward hadn't heard most of these stories already from me, it was that Alice and Angela were not even attempting to be discreet and several times I caught strangers at other table listening in and laughing at our expense. I knew I was not being paranoid because those people were looking right at us, not even trying to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping. I really do not think that either realized how loud they were being until Jasper noticed and told Alice to take it down a notch.

We probably should have been mad at them but we decided it would be more fun to get even instead. We also decided to be patient and bide our time until we could find the most opportune time for revenge.

By that time, we were at Liberty Island anyway. We checked in and we were put with the group that was about to be escorted to the crown. I will tell you that I am glad that I wore my sneakers because that was a hell of a lot of stairs to climb. By the time that we got to the top, Edward and I were laughing, it looked like we had gotten our revenge without even trying. Alice and Angela were so winded that they had to sit down immediately to catch their breath.

"Maybe if either of you had shut your mouths once at lunch you would not be so winded now. We all conserved our air and look at us. We are just fine. That woman over there looks about ninety years old and she's breathing just fine" Edward smirked at his older sister and pointed out and older woman who indeed looked to old to be about ninety and was currently looking over at Alice and Angela, who were still gasping for air, and was shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Oh fuck off." She wheezed back at him causing us to laugh harder. After the windy girls finally caught their breaths we rejoined the rest of the tour and got our first views from the crown. It was both breathtaking and scary at the same time. The view of Manhattan Island was amazing. For the rest of the afternoon, Edward and I filled up a whole memory card with pictures of the view and pictures of all of us inside the monument and outside of the monument as we made our way back down. We stopped that gift shop and picked up little Statue of Liberty figurine and we all got matching sweatshirts.

We made it back to the hotel that after with just enough time to shower and change. We did not really have a whole lot of time for dinner before the show so we decided on a quick meal of Thai food near the theater.

I had always loved the movie "Mary Poppins" growing up, of course, I am a Dick Van Dyke fan, but seeing it performed live, was an experience of a lifetime. After the show we stopped at the hotel bar for some drinks before we went to bed. I really wanted to make love to my husband tonight but I was so tired that I stole the t-shirt to Edward's pajamas when he turned his back for a moment, leaving him with only the bottoms. I just crawled under the covers and fell right sleep making myself the promise that I would jump him first thing in the morning.

EPOV:

All I did was turn my back to turn on the TV to find a movie for us to watch and the next thing I know half of my pajamas are gone and my wife is fast asleep in the bed. I sighed, I had wanted to snuggle just be alone with her for a bit, but I guess that was not happening tonight. So, I grabbed my journal and started writing. I was making a lot of headway in my book lately.

I was woken the next morning by my wife kissing me and running her fingers through my hair.

"There you are" she giggled, "I've been trying to wake you for almost ten minutes."

"Sorry, my love, late night last night"

"Well, then I am sorry for waking you so early, lover boy."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not." I that t-shirt of mine that she stole off her before those words were out of my mouth and needless to say, we didn't make it to breakfast this morning.

When we finally did manage to meet up with everyone else, we decided to head of to the Museum of Modern Art. We just spent the day casually walking around the museum. I had stopped to look at one painting when my sister came up to me, wrapped her arm around mine and laid her head on my shoulder. But it was the words that came out of her mouth that shocked me more than her little display of affection towards me.

"We decided that Jasper is going to accept the research position. We are moving to New York."

"Wow. I wonder what Mom is going to say."

"I don't know. That is all of us now. I am going to wait until we get home to tell her to her face though."

"Is that why you agreed so quickly to drive the car back to Phoenix for us? Putting of the inevitable a little bit?"

"Damn straight, little brother!"

"But, you will be closer to us and Em and Rose and the baby." 

"I know. That is one of the reasons that I agreed to this Edward, I want all of our kids to be really close."

"I do too, Alice. I do too."

We ate lunch in the café at the museum before taking off to spend the rest of the afternoon resting at the hotel. It was New Year's Eve and we were going to ring in the New Year at Times Square. This would be the first new year that I could remember that I actually could look back on the year that past with fond memories and could actually had hope for an amazing new year.

A/N:

Look for the outtake that I am posting tonight. Thanks to a reviewer who inspired me to write a little outtake from Angela's POV. It's a little taste of Bella and Angela before she left Forks. I have a couple of new plot bunnies running through my head. I am hoping to get started on them soon. We will be leaving New York soon and heading off to Europe.


	25. Chapter 25

FYH Chapter 25

Parting Ways Again

BPOV:

We woke up on New Year's Day hung over and sore. We were very sore from all the standing, walking, and dancing we had done the night before. We decided that it might not be a bad thing to just chill out at the hotel for the day. Luckily, we had thought ahead and had decided not to get show tickets for tonight, but to just play it by ear.

We did nothing but rent pay-per-view movies and order room service all day. It was like the slumber parties that Angela and I used to have when we were in high school. Although, unlike the slumber parties of our past this one was coed and there was sleep involved as most of us fell asleep at one point or another during the day. Except for Alice and Jasper, they were busy looking up condos for sale here in New York.

They had accepted the position and were going to have to move here quickly as they wanted Jasper here for the Spring Semester. The NYU wanted him to start as soon as possible. That meant moving across the country with only a couple of weeks notice. The current plan was for Jasper to come out first while Alice stayed behind, to pack and settle everything in Phoenix.

We spent the next few days going to various museums and shopping during the day and shows at night and making sure that we were ready to travel abroad. I made damn sure that I was stocked up on the birth control pills so that we wouldn't have anymore scares. And Edward, even though he rarely had any trouble, made sure that he had all his medications for his lungs and the proper forms from a doctor that the pills were prescribed for the customs people. Plus we had to make sure that the bank knew that we were traveling abroad so that we could use our bank cards and not have to worry about carrying or converting our cash. Plus we had to sort through all of our things and decide what we were going to take with us and what we were going to send on to Phoenix. Since we were going to be traveling by plane and trains, there was no way that we could take everything with us.

We were constantly on the go, moving from one destination to another and before we knew it, it was time to part ways again. I had really become attached to my new sister in law. She was fun and such a sweetheart and we had a lot in common. She and Edward had gone off on their own one afternoon in an attempt to tackle the remaining demons they had between each other. The following afternoon we had a family therapy session, which really centered on Edward and me surprising everyone by showing up for Christmas. Bethany was quite happy with Edward that he had made the decision, on his own, to come home for Christmas. She said that it was a major step in his healing. Edward and Alice talked about their relationship and the things that they had talked about and worked out together. Those two topics ended up taking up the whole hour we had to talk so the subject of Alice and Jasper moving was not even brought up.

We decided to spend that last night that we were all together with another quiet evening of dinner and then a movie in our suite. We were going to drop Ben and Angela off at the airport in the morning and while Edward and I would not fly out until later that night.

Angela, Alice, and I were completely sobbing by the time we made it to the airport. Even Angela and Alice had managed to become good friends in the short time since they had met. They had even exchanged email addresses and phone numbers so that they could keep in touch. That thrilled me to no end, that Edward's family accepted my "family". I had the hopes and dreams of us all becoming one big happy family one day in the future.

Since Alice and Jasper had meetings with the professor friend of Jaspers for the rest of the day, we were positive that we were not going to see them again before we left New York. So we were completely thrilled and surprised when they made it to the terminal in just enough time to say goodbye before we boarded the plane. When Alice hugged me she thanked me for saving her brother and her whole family and made me promise to take care of him. Then she turned to Edward. She made sure that he knew that she loved him before she would let us go. And then we turned and walked onto the plane that would take us to our next destination.

EPOV:

I sat on the plane with my arm wrapped around Bella as she slept. We had been in the air for two hours now, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and we would not be arriving at our final destination for another twelve hours. Yes, we had a total of fourteen hours of flying ahead of us. Since I could not sleep, I used the quiet time to write in my journal about how I felt when I said goodbye to my sister at the airport and how happy it made me that she made it to say goodbye before we boarded the plane. I ended up writing for a couple of hours before finally turning out the light over head and settling in for some sleep.

By the time I woke again the flight attendants were preparing we preparing to serve breakfast. It was eight in the morning, we were not going to land in London for almost another three hours, and then we would have a layover for a little over four hours before we took off again. We would be in flight to our final destination which was Lisbon, Portugal until well after five this evening.

I was really excited to be going to Portugal. We were going to be spending about two weeks here exploring. Once we started researching Lisbon we found out there was just so much to do here. There were numerous castles, museums, and cathedrals that we wanted to visit while were here. Since we did not have any time constraints we thought that we would stay for a while and do anything and everything that we desired.

The first thing that I was going to want to do, however, was take a nice, long, hot shower and sleep in a bed. I will admit that the first class chairs that we were sitting in were comfortable but not exactly the best for sleeping for a long time.

We were both completely exhausted by the time that we landed, collected our luggage, dealt with customs, and finally secured a cab to the Four Seasons/Ritz hotel where we were going to stay at. By the time that we got into our room and ordered some room service it was all either of us could do to just keep our eyes open. But there was one thing that I had to do before I could go to sleep. I had to call my mom. It was weird knowing that it was 7:30 in the evening here but it was only 11:30 in the morning in Phoenix.

"Hey Mom. We made it. We are in the hotel."

"How was the flight? Did you have any problems with customs?"

"Nope. We did not have a single problem, unless you count not being able to sleep well sitting up."

"You two must be exhausted. You two should just get some sleep."

"We are tired, mom. Bella's in the shower right now as soon as she get out, I'm going to take a quick shower and eat a quick room service supper and crash."

"Are you going sight seeing in the morning?" I briefly told Mom about all the locations that Bella and I wanted to see. She told me that I had better take lots of pictures because she had never been to Lisbon and wanted to see everything. I promised her a ton of pictures and then gave the phone to Bella, who had finished her shower and wanted to talk to mom about some of the boxes that we had left with Alice and Jasper. Mom and Dad were going to store the car for us but we did not want all of our things sitting in a garage for God knows how many months until we came home. Plus, we sent some packages of souvenirs back for the family. There were a couple of baby gifts included that we bought for Rose and Emmett's baby from FAO Schwartz.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised and quite unhappy to find myself alone in bed. I wandered out of the bedroom in search of my wife. I finally found her wrapped in a hotel robe, standing on our private balcony, and drinking a cup of coffee. It was two of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. One being my wife standing there and the other was the actual view of the city. The hotel was situated on top of a hill looking down on the city. The view was absolutely breathtaking.

After we managed to get dressed, we made our way downstairs to the Veranda Restaurant, and had breakfast before venturing out into Lisbon. We had the choice of either taking the underground or the tram system to get around. But once Bella caught sight of the "adorable yellow streetcars", in her words, she just _had_ to get to ride on them.

Our destination for the morning was Jeronimo's Monastery. King Manuel I to remember and celebrate Vasco da Gama successful trip to India built it in 1502. Not only was Vasco da Gama entombed there but so are Kings Manuel and Sebastião, and poets Fernando Pessoa and Alexandre Herculano. Talk about breathtaking sites. Bella and I spent the whole morning touring and exploring the monastery, and marveling over the architecture. We made sure that we got pictures of everything that we could. The whole place was amazing, including the gardens, the chapel, and the fountain.

When we left the monastery, we continued on to Belam Tower, which is a fortress that was built in 1515 to guard the entrance to Lisbon Harbor. After spending the rest of the afternoon wandering around the fortress we were once again exhausted so we decided that the only thing that we really wanted to do was go to dinner and then spend the rest of the evening enjoying the peace and quiet and solitude of our suite. We really had not had much time alone together with everyone together in New York. The legal drinking age in Lisbon, and throughout the European Union was only eighteen so I did not have as many hassles when I ordered a bottle of Champagne for us and my wife as I did back in the States. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in bed together completely naked. Well, except for the point where we forced ourselves to get out of bed to soak in the tub together. Yeah, it was a real sacrifice to drag my ass out of bed for that.

The next morning, I woke up still wrapped around my Bella. This would always be my favorite way of waking up. I hated to wake her, but we had another busy day planned for today. We were going to the Oceanaruim this morning and this afternoon we were going to get to see a real bull fight! I was really excited to see that. Especially since they changed the way that the fight is conducted and it ends. The fights used to end with the bull being killed in the ring. Yeah, like I would take my wife to something like that. Now, the bull rarely dies, they are sold to rodeos instead. If the bull should need to be put down then a butcher does it behind the scenes where unsuspecting parents won't have children with nightmares. Or in my case a pissed off animal loving wife who would want to stab the bull fighter to death with his own sword.

Again, we were completely exhausted by the time that the day was over. This is the way that our days continued to go. We managed to visit numerous castles and museums and we did a lot of shopping. At this rate, we were going to end up needing a vacation to get over our vacation.

A/N:

This is going to be a long note as there is quite a bit I really need to say:

First of all, sorry this took so long to get out. But when I started researching Lisbon I found most of the websites were in Portuguese. I am not Edward Cullen and I do not speak Portuguese. In fact the only Spanish I know I learned when I worked at a restaurant from the guys that worked in the kitchen and quite frankly at the age of 35 the phrases they used still make me blush. I tried my best to understand what I was reading.

I am not sure when the next update will be. I am hoping to get it out next week because the following week I am going on vacation and internet access will be quite limited as I will be in the woods. In the meantime you can find me on twitter as branson101 (any guesses as to where I will be traveling)

Most of you have found it but if not I started a new story called "Living Life" It's going to be more angsty and not all fluffy like this. You can get to it through my profile. I'll put a link to it on my blog as soon as I can.

I also want to ask for your prayers for the people of Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. The Corp of Engineers in the Dakotas keep releasing water to prevent flooding up there and have managed to flood us. Many major interstates have been closed indefinitely, many people have lost their homes, and many farmers have lost their crops. I am personally safe, even though I live two blocks from the water. I live on top of a great big hill and there is no chance of the water getting up that high.

And lastly I need to add to websites that I used as sources for this chapter.

http:/www(.)golisbon(.)com/sight-seeing/top10(.)html

http:/www(.)lisbon-guide(.)info/about-portugal/bullfighting


	26. Chapter 26

FYH Chapter 26

Another Day

EPOV:

We spent a total of a week and a half in Portugal before we moved onto Madrid, Spain. I really had not even seen that much of Europe on a whole, but what I had seen so far was beautiful and enchanting. I had to go out and buy a new memory card for my camera because we were taking so many pictures of ourselves everywhere. Mom was going to be thrilled with the amount of pictures that we were going to be sending back.

I had not participated in the last family therapy session because of the time difference. It had not been intentional. The session was scheduled at four Phoenix time; which was midnight here. Bella and I had crashed hard that night and never heard the phone ringing. They agreed that while Bella and I were in Europe the sessions needed to be in the morning their time so that we were not trying to stay up to catch the calls. Although, I was really thinking that there was not much to say that had not been said already. I had really forgiven my parents for all that they had done to me and I really just wanted to move on with my life.

I still had no intentions of ever living near my parents again. That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. When, I mentioned that to Bella she just pursed her lips and sighed.

"Edward, if you are waiting for it to happen again then maybe you are not as over it and you think you are."

And that is all that she had to say to get me really thinking again. I kept going back and forth over whether I wanted to continue with the sessions. Every time that I asked Bella what I should do she would only tell me that it had to be my decision. That I should do what my heart told me to do. A lot of help that was. My heart was saying one thing and my head was saying another.

So I told Bella that I wanted to take a walk to clear my head for a bit. She was absolutely fine with that as she wanted to soak in a hot tub and relax with a book that she picked up. Do not get me wrong, I love my wife dearly but as we really had not had any time apart lately, I took it as a good time for some "me time".

Our first day in Spain however, we were too tired to do anything but sleep half the day away and then go for massages at the hotel's spa and then a quiet night of wondering around near the hotel and enjoying a quiet supper and retiring back to our room quite early for some much needed "alone time". Not that we had not had plenty of "alone time" in the last week and a half. But, hey, I am a nineteen year old man and, well, that should be self explanatory does not require further explanation.

The next day we started visiting everything that we put on our list of thing that we absolutely must see while in Spain. We also needed to shop for dress clothes to wear to the opera later this week. I had secured tickets for us to see Tosca and we wanted to use the opportunity to dress up a bit and have an elegant night. Truth be told, I was really just looking forward to seeing my wife in a sexy as hell evening gown and heels.

We were afforded the opportunity to sleep in as for today we were going to spend the morning at the Parque del Buen Retiro. We opted for a quiet brunch at the hotel before continuing on to our destination for the day. It was Madrid's largest park that was not open to the public until the late nineteenth century. Prior to that, the park had belonged to the Spanish Monarchy.

We spent the rest of the morning leisurely strolling through the gardens looking at all of the sculptures and monuments hand in hand. At one point, Bella pulled her hand from mine and wrapped her arm around mine and sighed. When we got to the part of the lake where you could rent rowboats in the summer, I regretted that we were visiting in the winter and vowed that one day she and I would return in the summer. I had suddenly had the vision of her and me in of those rowboats. It was like what you would see in one of those old movies where the guy is rowing and the girl is sitting sweetly in pretty dress and holding a parasol over her head. It was as if she could read my mind because she brought my out my internal musings with the comment, "I bet it is even more beautiful in the summer."

As we walked away from our little spot by the lake, I steered her toward the horse drawn carriages, intent on us taking a ride. I do not believe that the could be many more romantic moments than riding through a garden as amazing as this one in carriage, with a beautiful woman, cuddled under a blanket to keep warm.

After a lunch at one of terrace cafes, we made our way to the Basilica de San Francisco El Grande. On the outside it merely looked like just another cathedral. But once I stepped foot inside and took in the beauty and grandeur, I realized that there was something special about the place. I realized that Bella felt the same way when I heard her softly gasp beside me.

We spent the next hour wandering around the cathedral in complete awe. Just as we were preparing to leave the main cathedral to tour the museum, an idea hit me. I felt in my heart that I really needed to make it happen.

"Bella, I want to come back here and renew our vows on our anniversary. This time, I want my family present, to be a part of it."

BPOV:

Edward's request literally knocked the breath out of me. He not only wanted for us to renew our commitment to each other but he wanted to include his family in the occasion. It was truly mind blowing how far they had come in such a short time.

"I want that too." Was all that I had to say before he grabbed in a fierce hug and kissed the top of my head and thanking me repeatedly. I told him that there was nothing really to thank me for, but he just said that the was no way that he could ever say thank you enough for merely loving him like I do. I could say the same for him and the way that he loves me. There really was no more that we really needed to say to each other about it, so silently, hand-in-hand, we made our way to the basilica's museum. When I started planning this trip so long ago, right after I lost my parents. I never dreamed that it would be this amazing.

Later that afternoon, we made our way to some shops to get some fancy clothes to wear to the opera. I was really excited to see Tosca at the Teatro Real. It was a play about Napoleon's invasion of Rome in the 1800's.

But that night for supper we were going to a different kind of opera. There was a restaurant called El Café de la Opera where the waiters are required to be opera singers and they sing every night during the dinner service.

Edward was in a strange mood all night. It seemed like he had to be touching me in some way at all times. Whether it was merely holding my hand, his arm around my waist, or playing with my hair. I was happy he was in such a great mood because I knew that the next therapy session was coming in the next afternoon and he still had not told me if he was going to answer the call. I really hoped that he would. I really do not think he is as over it and he needed to be.

The next morning I woke up first. That happened pretty often as Edward was usually up late writing. I ordered some coffee and breakfast from room service and went a laid down of the couch in the living area, closed my eyes, and waited for the food. My back was hurting and I knew that it could mean one thing. And thank God for that because it meant that I was definitely not pregnant. Not that I really thought that I could be. I just missed one pill after all. Although, I think that Edward wanted a baby more than he was admitting.

I was not on the couch long before Edward woke up and joined me. And by that I mean that he crawled on top of me and kept kissing my neck in the spot that he knew was ticklish just to get me giggling. He says that my giggles are one of his favorite sounds in the world. He was just getting even friskier when the waiter knocked on the door with our food. He groaned and tried to hold me to him but I pushed him off of me so that he landed on the floor and went to answer the door. I was starving and the man was trying to come between me and my food.

We spent the remainder of the morning taking a leisurely stroll around some shops close by the hotel. We did not want to end up stuck out somewhere on a bus or anywhere in public really, when our family called.

It was really a more subdued call that when had been having lately. Alice was not saying much this time. She did mention that she had met with a realtor and put her home up for sale. Jasper was already in New York and she was eager to get there. Esme herself sounded a bit off, but I really could not blame her. Everyone was now leaving Phoenix and soon it would just be her and Carlisle left there. I could tell in every comment that she made that she was attempting to bite her tongue and not cry. There was something off and I just could not put my finger on what it was. But I think that Edward knew what it was. After the very strained call ended, Edward and I walked to a local café for a quick supper and then we went back to the hotel to relax and watch a movie. There had been something bothering my husband since that phone call that afternoon.

When we got back to the hotel however, my back was really killing me and all I wanted to do was soak in a hot tub of water alone. Yes, I was cranky too. Edward was such a saint that he just kissed me on the forehead and with a wink and smirk told me to get lost and let him have some alone time. I smack him upside the head and put on my best fake angry face, stuck my tongue out at him, and stalked to the bathroom. I could not help but laugh myself, when I heard Edward laughing from the living room.

I turned on my IPOD and sank into the hot water and waited for the pain to go away. After about forty-five minutes of lying there in the tub I am feeling a lot better and a bit hungry. So I decided that it was time to get out of the tub and explore the dessert options on the room service menu.

When I came out of the bathroom I could hear Edward talking to someone. I could only hear his voice so I knew that he had to be on the phone with some one. I heard him tell whoever it was that we loved them and ended his call. He obviously had not noticed me standing in the doorway because he jumped when he looked up and saw me standing there.

"I was just talking to my Mom." I figured it had to be someone in his family with the look on his face.

"Today is anniversary of that forest fire. She was struggling to let go already of us already and today was just a bad reminder to her. She knows that it will be hard for her when it actually happens and Emmett, Rose, and Alice are really gone. Right now, it is still just an abstract concept. But she said that she just keeps worrying about what ifs and she's trying to be supportive and be "good", as she put it, by not voicing her opinions and concerns. I told her that it is not going to help any of us heal completely if she is not completely honest with us."

"All mom's worry about their kids, Edward. I think it is in the official job description."

"That is what I told her. That we expected her to be upset and sad that we were leaving but we also needed to support our choices and let us spread our wings and fly."

"That's really poetic" I said with a giggle.

"That's what Mom said" and then he wrapped his arms around me, "are you feeling any better?"

"Yes. I want dessert though."

Edward got up and pulled the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake he had ordered for us out of our fridge and we laid ourselves out on the living room floor on a blanket and fed each other the cheesecake.

Before we knew it, it was our last night here in Spain. Tomorrow we would head back to the airport to move on to our next destination of Paris. But tonight we were headed for the opera. It was a magical evening and a magical evening. There was nothing sexier than seeing Edward in a tux and he said the same about me and the evening gown and heels that I picked out to wears. That is heels that he had insisted that I wear to bed. Yeah, we could just sleep on the plane.

A/N:

Sorry for the delay, but like I said in my notes for Living Life these chapters are requiring a lot more research and fact checking so they take longer to write. Below is my sources and just add anything wiki to the list. I went there a lot!

http:/www(.)lonelyplanet(.)com/spain/madrid/entertainment-nightlife/cafe/cafe-opera

http:/www(.)/index(.)cfm

http:/en(.)wikipedia(.)org/wiki/Buen_Retiro_Park


	27. Chapter 27

FYH Chapter 27

Sweet Paris

BPOV:

The actual flight from Madrid to Paris only took one hour. However, we ended up spending two hours in the airport in Madrid going through security checks and another two hours in the airport in Paris trying to get through the line at customs. UGH! How the hell does it make any sense that it took us five hours to get through a one hour flight. By the time that we got check in to the hotel and made it up to our room, we were both desperately in need of food, showers, and liquor. Yeah, I led the raid on the mini bar and I am not ashamed to admit it.

I was glad however that we would not be dealing with an airport again for a few weeks. When we sat down to decide what we wanted to see and do while we were here in Paris the list just kept growing and growing and growing and before we knew it we had made the decision that we were going to stay in Paris for the entire month of February.

After some more research with some horrifying results, where Edward and I learned the value of adding "five star hotels in…" to our hotel search we finally found one that we loved. Some of the listings were downright scary. We book the presidential suite at the Hotel De Vendome. Edward thought that it was a little expensive to book the suite for a month but I wanted to have a kitchen available in case we decided that we wanted to stay in some nights and cook for ourselves.

The first thing that either of us wanted to see was the Louvre. We were told that it was so huge that it could take a person over well a week to get through the whole thing so we were giving ourselves five days.

That is how we spent our first week in Paris. We would spend all day walking through the museum and then by the time that we walked the six blocks back to our hotel in the evening, we would collapse on our bed. The first night after we returned we made the mistake of collapsing on our bed for "just a minute" before we changed for dinner. Neither of us made it out of that bed. In fact, Edward was fast asleep within thirty minutes. We woke up starving the next morning and chalked it up to a lesson learned that we should eat on our way home from the museum instead of risking passing out again and not getting our supper.

But, oh, the week that we spent wandering around the Louvre looking at some of the most famous paintings in the world created by some of the most famous artist that had ever existed was beyond amazing. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am glad that we took our time to see everything that we could.

At the end of the fifth day of touring the museum we dragged ourselves into the room after deciding that we were too tired to stop at a restaurant for supper, I collapsed on the bed while Edward did not make it past the living room and ended up collapsing on the couch.

"What are you doing all the way in the living room?"

"One, I can't walk any further. My feet and furious with me and have staged a mutiny. And two, the room service menu and the phone are out here and I am hungry."

I told Edward all that I wanted was a sandwich, some fruit, and a large chocolate milk shake. While he ordered the food, I dragged my butt off the bed and made my way into the bathroom. There was something that I knew would make both of us feel better. I started the tub and ran us a nice hot bubble bath for us to share.

I started to strip off my clothes and grabbed for my robe to slip it on when I looked up at the mirror and noticed that Edward was in the doorway watching me. He walked up behind me and wrapped reached his arms around my waist, taking the sash from my hands, and giving me a kiss. Then he actually tied the robe shut. I raised my eyebrow at him. He merely laughed and responded with, "As much as I love seeing you naked, I think I prefer you covered up when we are expecting strangers to come to the door bearing food."

I leaned back into him, "I think that I could just sleep for the next week."

"As tempting as it is to consider keeping you in bed with me for a week we have plans for tomorrow."

"I thought that we were going to take a day to relax?"

"We are. I just called the front desk and scheduled us for a range of massages in the spa. That is going to take a few hours and then while you are having your hands and feet cherished and pampered I am going to go get a hair cut and stop by a store and we are going to cook for ourselves tomorrow."

"That sounds wonderful."

"First though tomorrow, we have a conference call at nine."

A little while later, we were both naked in the tub. We had eaten our ham sandwiches and fed each other fruit the fruit and now we were relaxing in each other arms. We had had to warm up the water a few times, as these old European hotels were quite drafty. I was lying back against Edward's chest and he had his arms wrapped around me. I knew that he had his head laid back against the wall and his eyes closed. It was a completely romantic way to spend an evening in Paris, even if we were both too exhausted to do anything sexual.

"What were you thinking about getting us to cook tomorrow?"

"I was just thinking simple. Something like frozen pizza and salad?"

"Um, no, I have a salmon dish that is great and easy. I'll make a list before you leave tomorrow of everything that I am going to need."

"Okay," he mumbled out. I knew that we were both going to need to get out of the water soon before we fell asleep and accidentally drowned ourselves. But for the life of me I just could not bring myself to extricate myself from my husband's arms. It was, after all, my favorite place in the world to be.

EPOV: 

I woke up with a vague recollection of Bella urging me out of the tub and steering me towards the bed. I was still naked and so was she. Hmmm. This had potential. But one look at the clock told me that now was not the time to follow through with that thought. It was ten minutes to nine and my family's therapy session was going to start in ten minutes. I woke up Bella and made my way into the bathroom. By the time that I came back out Bella was no longer in bed. A quick search of the suite found her in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and looking at the room service menu. After calling in our order, she went back to our room to get dressed. The theme for the day was apparently 'warm comfort' because we both chose to wear sweat suits.

Room service knocked on the door at the same time that my phone went off. I went for the food while Bella answered my phone. This time I would not be the only one to attend via conference call. Alice had sold her place and she and Jasper were officially residents of New York City.

That is what today's session was going to be focusing on. How everyone felt now that Alice and Jasper were gone. We had had a similar session when Bella and I closed on the house and the bookstore.

Mom's response was the one that surprised me the most, "I have always been proud of my children, but I have never been prouder of them than I am right now. I have never seen them this happy before and I know that is my fault. I held them back. I kept them from chasing their dreams. I am so sorry that I hurt them."

We all made a point of telling her that, while her behavior in the past had been horrid and unacceptable, we all had to accept that as adults we could have put our proverbial feet down and stood up to her. Well, technically I did, and that is why we were participating in these therapy sessions at all and it was the reason that my family was about to be scattered across the United States. I could be worse. We could have ended up scattered around the world. But all three of us kids were going to live relatively close to each other and for that I was grateful.

Dad was the only one that had a problem with Alice and Jasper living in New York City. And that just stemmed from the high crime rates. After a fifteen minute debate on which was better; Alice taking a self defense class or carrying a taser in her purse. It was decided that she would enroll in some form of martial arts class, she would carry a taser, and carry pepper spray.

As soon as I could get off that call with my family, I went back to finalizing and acting on the plan that I had been considering when I woke up naked in bed with my equally naked wife. Needless to say, we were a few minutes late getting to our spa appointment.

I had scheduled us for four treatments. The first was a "satin skin scrub". All I really understood was the word exfoliating. Then there was this thing called "draining care" it was supposed to be good for the circulation in the legs and I added the "Foot reflexology" given the amount of time that we had spent on our feet lately and how badly mine still hurt. The last one was the "relaxing ritual" which was the body massage. Yes, I totally got my girl on today, but my feet and back felt a hell of a lot better by the time these girls were done with us. After all that was done, Bella was off to get a manicure and pedicure while I went for that haircut.

On my way out of the barbershop, I passed a little chocolate shop and decided to stop in. Sure enough, they had Bella's favorite truffles so I bought her some. I also took the opportunity to order us a cake to be delivered to the hotel for Valentine's Day, which was coming up fast. I also took the opportunity to stop by the florist and order her two dozen tulips to for Valentine's as well. Tulips were most definitely her favorite flower. She was already planning on planted a row of tulips outside our house in Maine. I know that roses are more traditional for Valentine's but really, wouldn't any girl prefer her favorite flower to the normal standby? I certainly hoped so. I had specially ordered her gift and that was going to be delivered to the hotel as well. I could not wait to see how it came out.

By the time that I got through the store and made my way to our room, Bella was already back and lying on the couch watching a movie and talking to Angela on the computer. Bella smiled when she saw me enter the suite and quickly ended her conversation with Angela.

She walked over to where I was standing and I leaned down and kissed her, "You could have kept talking to Angela. I don't mind putting these away myself."

She looked a little sad when she said with a sigh, "She had to go anyway. She and Ben were heading to a frat party tonight."

"Do you regret missing out on all of those college experiences with them?"

"No. I really don't. If I had gone to college with them I wouldn't have you and that is infinitely better than the frat party part of the college experience. I just miss _them_."

Hell, even I was missing Ben and Angela. They were good people. I did not need to vocalize, however, the truth that I saw in my wife's eyes. She and her best friend, a woman that she had considered her sister for most of her life, had new lives that were moving in vastly different directions in a rapid pace and it was hurting her. Even I could tell that the frequency of the calls between the two of them had dropped off at a considerable rate. I made it a goal to encourage her to call Angela more often. I knew that part of the reason was Angela's school schedule and the time zone differences. But I was not about to stand idly by and watch those two lose touch.

The next couple of days we spent casually wandering around some stores and boutiques near the hotel. We found some gorgeous cufflinks that we bought to give Dad for Father's Day. That was about all that we found that we thought that our family would like, but Bella did find a farmer's market. She had a great time buying out the place. I had a good feeling that we were going to be eating in a lot for a while and that was just fine by me. I would choose my wife's cooking over going out to a restaurant any day.

A/N:

Okay. I sat here for three days with this doc open and neither one of these two would talk to me then BAM we had cuddling in the bubble bath time. I intended to include the whole month into this chapter but scenes started getting away from me. The wait should be as long as it was for this one. The research is done and I know appr+

oximately what is going to happen. Valentine's Day! Any guesses on what Edward ordered for Bella. PS. I prefer tulips to roses any day.

Okay…disclaimer and citing now. SM owns it all except this plot and the current location of these two nutty love bunnies!

http:/www(.)hoteldevendome(.)#suite-presidentielle-ambiance(.)php

http:/www(.)lonelyplanet(.)com/france/paris/sights?affil=ask


	28. Chapter 28

FYH Chapter 28

Valentine's Day

BPOV:

It was not easy trying to be sneaky when the person you are trying to surprise is around all the time. It was impossible to call Esme without Edward knowing so I did the only other thing that I could, I sent my mother-in-law a text message to email a certain recipe. I had not brought it with me because I honestly did not think that I would be cooking all that much while traveling through Europe. In fact, I left all of my recipes behind. Most I knew by heart by now, but this one I had only made one time.

I made my decision that I wanted to cook a big dinner on Valentine's when we found this amazing vegetable market. I was in a vegetable lover's heaven. I started formulating the menu the second I spotted that one key ingredient.

Edward thought I was insane when I told him that I wanted to stay in and cook our Valentine's dinner. I could see his point. Not many women would demand to stay in on that night, but honestly, I was getting tired of going out all the time and I had something special planned for dinner.

We had gone out last night and were planning to sleep in but some fool was pounding on the door. I rolled over wake Edward and make him get up to get the door. When my hand hit the cool sheet, my eyes flew open; apparently I was the only one sleeping in. As I sat up, I heard the shower going and realized that I was going to have to get the door myself.

I yelled to whoever it was I was coming while I through my robe on to cover my naked body and went to the door. It was actually a good that the Edward was in the shower and I was the one to get the door because it was it happened to be the order that I had placed at the vegetable market. I thanked the concierge and swiftly went to the kitchen to hide the food before Edward came out of the shower.

He had promised not to snoop in the kitchen after I brought home the groceries yesterday, but there was going to be no keeping it all a secret from him once I started cooking.

I was ordering breakfast from room service when Edward came out of the bedroom wearing nothing but his pajama pants and still sporting wet hair. He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck and whispered in my ear to make sure that I ordered plenty of coffee. Then he went over to the sofa, collapsed on it, and started flipping through the channels.

I followed him over to the couch and lied down right on top of him. He sighed, wrapped his arms around me again, and held me tight to him. I reached up and started playing with his hair while we watched TV.

Before long there was another knock on the door and I got off of my husband to answer it. We had barely sat down at the table when there was yet another knock on the door.

"I think that is for you." He gestured for me to get the door.

"What did you do?" 

"Not enough. Not nearly enough for you."

When I open the door, this time the concierge had a helper with him and they were each carrying a vase filled with the most beautiful flowers that I had ever seen.

"Tulips? You got me tulips for me!"

"You did say that they were your favorite right?"

I grabbed him and kissed him hard, not even that the concierge and his friend were still standing in the room, "you are the best husband ever!"

After the gentlemen left, I asked Edward to take one of the vases and put it on my nightstand by the bed. I took the other one to the kitchen so that I could look at them while I was cooking today.

As soon we finished our breakfast, I went into the kitchen to start our dinner. It was going to take all day to prepare. Once I had the chicken cleaned and prepped, I put it in the fridge to wait for the right time to put it in the oven. While I got to work cleaning the vegetables, I vaguely heard someone at the door again and then Edward was knocking on the kitchen saying that he had some thing that needed to be refrigerated and needed to bring it in. I knew that the second he came in the room he would know exactly what I was making, but I told him to come on in anyways.

EPOV:

Of course I was extremely curious about what it was that Bella was cooking for us for dinner. But there was no way that I was going to go behind her back and snoop around the kitchen.

The second that the cake showed up I saw it as my chance to snoop in front of her back. Bella had been cooking a bit more than lately since we found that farmer's market. Wait. Sorry. Bella keeps telling me that a farmer's market is general vegetables being sold out of the back of a truck, what she found was a vegetable market. I guess the difference between the two is the difference in mobility and have four walls and a front door. Because from what I understand they both just selling fresh vegetables.

Anyway, she granted me access to the kitchen so that I could put the cake away. She was excited by the sight of it but could not come check it out as she was working with something in the sink. I walked over to kiss her and that when I saw exactly what it was that she had in the sink. It was fresh cranberries. She was making my mom's cranberry sauce. I know that I have said this many times before but I will say it again, I have no idea what I did to deserve to have such an amazing woman to be my wife, but I thank God for putting her in my life.

She all but shoved me out of the kitchen and back to the living room when I offered to help her cook. The only thing she said was, "Remember you trying to help at Thanksgiving, well, you are still banned from helping." So I gave her a quick kiss and went to grab my journal and write while I caught a movie on Pay-Per-View.

It wasn't long before I heard singing coming from the kitchen. When I got up to investigate, I found Bella singing and dancing in the kitchen while she was cooking. I stood there for a long time watching her. I knew that she was so caught up in what she was and was completely oblivious to the fact that I was standing there because she would quite frequently stop at her vase of tulips, smell them, and sigh with a big smile on her face. This is what was so amazing about my wife. A simple vase of tulips made her so incredibly happy. Tanya would have found a flaw in any flowers I bought her, even if she had made it up.

I sat back down and worked on my book some more. It was huge and I knew that I was going to have to edit it considerably if I ever intended to get it published. But this copy, the original, would stay unedited and be the definitive keepsake of our first year together and the changes that we had brought about in each other.

BPOV:

Just seeing Edward's smile from finding out that I was making the cranberry sauce was worth all the work it took to make it. My mom always said it was the little things that you did for some one that made all the difference. I remembered once, when I was ten, and I didn't have the money to buy Christmas presents, my dad told me that the best presents were the one that were homemade because they were the only one that truly came from the heart. The older that I got the more I understood that he was right. Mom loved it more when he made her something rather than buy her a gift from the store. My parents did not have much money and lived simply, but I believe that even if they had all the money that Edward and I had right now, they still would have lived the same simple life. But most of all they were happy with the lives that they lived.

I finished the cranberry sauce and put it in the fridge to chill, got the roasting chicken and vegetables in the oven to bake, and finished the salad, and then I was finished and had time to relax and spend some time with my special Valentine.

I grabbed my vase of tulips and went back out to the living room and stopped in my tracks. Edward was sitting on the couch so engrossed in what he was writing it was like nothing else existed in the world.

"Are you just going to stand there staring at me?"

Ok. I was like almost nothing else existed in the world. Apparently he noticed me. I walked over to the couch and sat on his lap and leaned in to kiss him when I looked over and noticed that there was a cartoon on with this huge guy with a big nose and spindly legs, "what are you watching?"

"Despicable Me. It's quite funny."

"I'll bet it is. I know that you already had a shower this morning but is there anyway that I could convince you to join me in mine or perhaps just some quality time in the bedroom?" I asked as I took off the robe that I had been wearing all day. And revealing that it was the only thing that I had been wearing all day

"What about dinner?"

"Eh…we have time before I have to check on it, besides, we can always order something in if we take too long."

EPOV:

I sat down to dinner a couple hours later completely blown away by the fact that she not only made the homemade cranberry sauce, but a sautéed vegetable medley, and Cornish game hens.

After that huge dinner we decided to take a walk to work off the meal before we have dessert. As we walked around the dark streets of Paris it started snowing. There was already about a half foot of snow on the ground. We wandered into a nearby park and ended up running around chasing each other before Bella decided that we needed to make snow angels. By the time that we got back to the hotel we were both soaked to the bone. I stopped at the front desk and asked them to send some hot cocoa up to our room.

After changing in some dry clothes we sat in front of the fireplace with our cocoa, chocolate cake, and the presents we had purchased each other. She gave me hers first. It was a gold and silver crucifix on a gold chain that I had seen and admired at the Basilica in Spain. It was beautiful and had really wanted but it had been sold before I could get back to the shop to get it. Now I know who bought it.

I handed her the gift that I had ordered for her. It was a charm bracelet. I had specially ordered the charms to be each of the states and countries that we had visited on our trip. I had specifically requested a light weight metal be used for both the bracelet and the charms. That bracelet had the potential to get really heavy if the wrong materials were used. And I wanted her to be able to wear it all the time. After I put the bracelet on her, she tackled me to the floor and we spent the rest of the night there exploring each other.

The last two weeks of our time in France flew by as did our week in Belgium, which was our next destination. However, it wasn't the most fun we'd had as we both ended up in the emergency room with bronchitis. It seems that our idea to start taking nightly walks in Paris wasn't such a bright idea and now we were both on antibiotics. However being stuck in bed with my wife did have its perks. We did manage to enjoy ourselves. Tomorrow we were off to our next destination, Ireland. We thought about extending our time in Belgium but we both we intent on spending St. Patrick's Day in Dublin.

A/N:

We are moving ahead a little. The next chapter won't take long to write and then I think there will be another smallish time jump. Thanks for reading and thanks to all that review! I get so giddy when the review alerts come in!


	29. Chapter 29

FYH Chapter 29

Irish Eyes are smiling

BPOV:

Getting sick in a foreign country, especially one that does not speak English as a first language, is a scary ordeal. It is worse when your husband already has a lung condition that you have to attempt to explain to the medical staff. How we both ended up with bronchitis is beyond me. Edward explained to me that he is more susceptib1le to things like this, but it did not mean that it did not scare

;.me. We went to the doctor two days before we left Belgium for Ireland, which caused another round of issues with us taking even more prescription meds through customs.

The irony was that he got better almost immediately after starting the antibiotics. I had to return to the doctor for another set of chest x-rays and another round of antibiotics. At least it was finally March and spring was right around the corner. Edward and I had begun to notice the temperatures climbing ever so slightly.

At least we knew enough to know that antibiotics rendered birth control pills useless, so Edward and I stocked up on condoms while we were at the pharmacy filling our prescriptions. Neither of us felt up to having sex at the moment but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Even though we were not through exploring Dublin, we decided to venture to Waterford for St. Patrick's Day. We were staying at hotel called Dooley's. There was a pub just a short jaunt down an alley from the hotel that was having a St. Patrick's Day party and we were going to attend.

It was going to be an all-day event, with live music, food and beer. I had a feeling it was going to be a day that we would never forget. We arrived at Jordan's Pub around eleven and found a table that was in the corner so that we could watch everything that was going on. Almost immediately, a group of men came in, took the table next to us, and then proceeded to introduce themselves. They seemed like nice gentlemen, who were apparently in the seventies or eighties, but they were a rowdy little group that was intent of having a good time today. When they found out that neither Edward nor I had ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day like this before, they decided that they 'would be remiss if they did not pass on some 'helpful tips gleaned from years of experience.' It really came down to two rules, eat a lot and frequently; and drink in moderation all day.

We decided to be smart and take their advice and made our way up the buffet that had been set up with lamb stew, corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and black pudding. When we returned to our table, we found that our new friends had moved it to connect with the one that they were seated at and they had ordered us each a bottle of O'haras Celtic Stout. Thomas, the one sitting next to me said that you could not say that you had really celebrated St. Patrick's in Ireland unless we drank the Irish beers and this one; he said was his favorite, which then started a friendly debate over which beer was the best.

We all sat there eating, drinking, and enjoying easy conversation with each other when a group of women, who were obviously the wives of the men, showed up and joined us.

By five that afternoon we were well on our way to being drunk and our new friends were not only teaching us the words to some of the tradition folk tunes the band was playing but they were teaching us how to dance too.

By eleven o'clock, the food was long gone but not the beer and we were currently in the fall over drunk stage. Therefore, when Edward suggested that we go back to the room it sounded like a pretty damn good idea. We bid farewell to our new friends and exited the bar.

As we stepped out of the pub, a group of girls, well whores would be a more accurate description, started yelling at Edward in an attempt to entice him away from me. Normally I would have laughed it off but I was too drunk to act in any way that would be considered remotely sane, "Hey bitches! You're shit out of fucking luck," I grabbed Edward's left hand and raised it to show off his wedding band, "this says I own him so back the fuck off." Then I kissed him deeply and before I pulled away, I whispered in his ear, "catch me, husband!" and then I took off running down the alley.

EPOV:

We left the bar completely inebriated but my wife was always very playful when she was this far gone. She ran from me and down the alleyway, daring me to chase her and I did dare. I caught up to her and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around and pulling her to me, kissing her hard as she wrapped her arms around my neck and nearly jumped my right here in the alleyway. At least we had enough restraint to make it back to our room without doing anything we would definitely regret. She had her dress off before I even had the door closed and damn it if she had not been completely naked under that dress.

She ran for the bedroom and I chased after her again and grabbed her from behind before she managed to get to the bed. I wrapped one arm around her chest and grabbed ahold of her breast while my other hand trailed down her stomach and I pushed it in between her legs. She let out a soft moan and turned her head to kiss me again. I continued to use my hands until I gave her what would only be the first of many orgasms of the night.

When I released her, she turned and tried to drop to her knees in an attempt to return the favor but I was not having that. I quickly lifted her into my arms and carried her to the bed, kissing her all the way. I laid her down; I hesitated only long enough to remove my own clothes before crawling on top of her.

"God, I love your breasts," I moaned as I moved down to attack them with my mouth this time instead of my hand. She reached down take me into her hand and began stroking me tenderly. I reached down, grabbed her hand off me, and brought it up above her head. Resting my weight on my knees, I shifted my weight, grabbed her other hand and secured it with her other hand, pinning them to the bed with my hand. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around my waist putting me in the perfect position to just push forward with my hips and enter her. It was not the slow love making like most of the times that we were together, this was hard, needy, lust driven, drunken sex. 

I had sex with my wife two more times after that. The last time, as we came together, I collapsed on top of her, both of us completely out of breath. I kissed her neck and then rolled off her, "I fucking love Ireland," I murmured before completely passing out.

I woke the next morning to the sound of Bella moaning next to me, but it was not the good kind of moaning that I got out of her last night. I tried to open my eyes to see what was wrong but had to immediately close them again having figured out why she was moaning in pain. We had forgotten to close the shades to our East facing bedroom window and the bright sun was streaming in, "I fucking hate Ireland," I moaned as Bella yanked the pillow out from under my head. I tried open one eye to ensure that she was not going to hit me with it. She was using it to cover her face as she stumbled to the window at pulled the curtains closed. I started to laugh but it hurt my throbbing head so bad that it quickly turned to a groan.

I heard her pick up the phone and ordered us coffee, toast, and scrambled eggs to eat. When she hung up the phone, she told me that I needed to get dressed so that I could answer the door when room service arrived. When I told her, "No, I'm never leaving this bed again," then she hit me with the pillow.

I rolled off the bed, put the jeans that I had worn yesterday back on, stumbled into the living room area, collapsed on the couch, and fell back to sleep. I vaguely heard the knocking on the door but I did hear Bella yell at me to get the door because she was still naked. The naked part was what really got my attention, for about a second. Then I sat up too fast and my head starting feeling like it was splitting open again, and I completely lost interest in having sex. I was just in too much pain to do anything that strenuous.

After breakfast and about a half a jar of aspirins each we managed to find the ability to venture out of the hotel. We made our way to the Waterford Crystal factory for the tour and some shopping at the retail store. I wanted to try to find a baby gift for Rose and Emmett, we knew that they were having a girl but they had yet to be able to agree on a name for the poor child. But they still had time. It was only March and she was not due until the beginning of July.

The factory was a lot larger than I thought that it would be. Six departments were what made up the tour. However, I did manage to get my hung over wife so angry with me that she elbowed me hard in the gut and then she went to stand on the other side of the room, muttering something about a one-track mind. Well I am _SO_ sorry, but I thought that calling that one department 'the blowing department' was incredibly funny and I may have been laughing a little. Ok, I was laughing a lot, but in my defense, I was extremely hung over and maybe still a little drunk.

I was exhausted and Bella was still cranky when the damn tour was finally over and we made it to the retail store. Bella was looking at some tumblers that she said that she liked for the house but I was over in the baby gift section. I had found the perfect gift to send back to Rose and Emmett for the baby. I was a figurine of a pink butterfly.

The minute that I brought the little figurine over to Bella, she forgot all about the glasses that she was looking at, oohed, and ahhed at the butterfly in her hand. Of course, we were going to get the kid a ton of other more practical shit. But we were her uncle and aunt and it was our job to spoil her silly with all the frivolous shit that our money could buy.

I knew that Bella would never spend so much money on glasses herself so when excused herself to the bathroom while I paid for the butterfly I grabbed the tumblers too. I had them ship the figurine to Emmett and Rose and the glasses to Mom and Dad. I would have to remember to contact them to tell them to expect the package to hold for me.

We picked up a quick supper on our way back to our hotel for the evening. We were both tired and my headache had never completely gone away. So we enjoyed a quiet evening of movies and packing to return to Dublin for a few more days before we left Ireland for our next destination.

A/N: Ok. I tried to push myself out of my comfort zone and write a lemon but I was so self-conscious about it that I am worried about how it is going to be received. Please be gentle. That is what took me so long to write this chapter.

I need to thank imyoursweet666 for helping me out with this chapter and giving some great info on Ireland. I liked that idea you gave me for when they left the pub, I just changed it a wee bit!

Edward's reaction to the blowing department was my exact reaction and I go to a blown glass shop quite frequently. If you ever get a chance to watch an artist at work with this medium take it because it is amazing to watch.

.


	30. Chapter 30

FYH Chapter 30

Life and Death

A/N: I am giving a Kleenex warning to this chapter. See bottom note for more details.

BPOV:

My mother always told me that time marches on without your permission and if you are not paying attention you will get left behind with nothing but regrets. It was now the end of April and we had seen so much and been so many places in the last five weeks. Little did we know that our travels would soon be abruptly coming to an end.

After leaving Ireland we rented a car and traipsed around England and Scotland for about three weeks. We even had our picture taken in front of the plaque that was placed on the pillar outside of the café in Scotland where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. Once we made it to London, after stopping at various abbeys and country bed and breakfasts along the way, we returned to the visiting the normal and often clichéd sightseeing destinations.

We took tours of the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey. We rode that giant Ferris wheel and we went to see a few plays at theatres on the West End, England's version of Broadway. They tend to have many of the same plays and musicals that you might or have seen in New York but then again there are some original shows.

I spent a whole weekend teasing Edward by acting disappointed that Equus was no longer playing as I would have loved to have seen Harry Potter naked. Edward didn't think that I was very funny at all.

After leaving England we moved onto Poland where we visited several museum dedicated to the event of the 1940's, the Nazi Occupation, the holocaust, and the subsequent liberation. It was a very humbling experience to see these places and to learn what these people had to endure to survive.

Not all of our museum visiting were so somber. We did visit the Frederick Chopin Museum. We actually managed to get in on a weekend that the museum was hosting a competition for amateur musicians playing Chopin's pieces. I decided that my favorite was Nocturne Op.9 No.1. It was a marvelous weekend and inspirational for Edward as he insisted that we return directly to the hotel after the competition had completed for the day and he spent the rest of the night writing while I talked on the phone. My cell phone bill was going to be outrageous after that night. I not only got to talk to Angela, but Alice, Rose, Esme, and even Carlisle.

Our next stop was Germany, another country with a deep history of pain. We made sure that we visited the piece of the Berlin Wall that was placed where the Gestapo Headquarters once stood. It was strange to visit these areas and view these important pieces of the world's history that previously had been nothing more to us than stories in our school textbooks.

Austria was to be our next stop on our European tour. Even with the sad histories of the places we had been visiting, we were still having the time of our lives. I tried to talk Edward into a little skiing adventure while we were so close to the Alps but he was not about to agree to me trying that again. He did not want to spend any more of our time in emergency rooms if they could be avoided.

We spent quite a few days in Austria. Austria's history was extremely rich in culture, especially music. So many famous composers were born in Austria, including Mozart. We could not forget about the Von Trapp family either. Sound of Music was one of my favorite movies. I would have preferred to have much more time to see everything I could in Austria but after agreeing to come back some day, we moved on to what would inevitably be our last destination before we had to return home.

Italy was a completely different experience for us compared to our experience of the last week and a half. The last three countries we had focused on the darkest side on European history, once in Italy we focused our attention and much happier historical eras and places.

Our first stop Italy was Venice. The first two days we were there we visited a few historical landmarks, such as St. Mark's basilica and the home of Marco Polo. On the evening of our second day in Venice, Edward took me on a romantic gondola ride at sunset and then to a romantic candle light dinner at a quiet café. After dinner, we decided that since it was such a beautiful night we would just walk back to our hotel.

By the time that we got back to the hotel, I was so exhausted I barely made it to the room. But then again I had been extremely tired for about a week. I kept rationalizing to myself that I was not sick, it was just all of the traveling finally catching up to me. I was doing everything I could to keep Edward from noticing, I don't think I was very successful at it, but I did not want him to worry about me. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the night. I woke the next morning to the sound of Edward's phone ringing and him taking the phone call that would change our lives forever.

EPOV:

Bella had been scaring me for the last week with how tired she always was. She kept trying to hide her yawns but I caught them. Of course, I did spend a good majority of my time staring at my wife wondering how I got lucky enough for her to want to be with me. But she was still scaring me with the falling asleep all the time. The other day she fell asleep at dinner. Last night she was out as soon as we made it back to the hotel. I do not think that she even realized that I had to half carry her up to our room she was so tired. Although, we did have a long and exciting day of sightseeing and a long walk back from the café. I went to bed that night, with the determination that, first thing in the morning, I would convince her to see a doctor. Unfortunately, I would not get the chance to talk to her about it in the morning.

I had stayed up late writing so I was still asleep when my ringing phone woke me up. One quick glance at the phone told me that it was my sister, Alice. If I was coherent enough for it to occur to me immediately that it was nine in the morning, here in Italy, which meant that it was only four in the morning in New York. I answered the call in pure panic, "Alice, what's wrong? Are you ok? Is it Rose or the baby?"

"Edward?" Her sniffling voice answered back, "It's daddy." And then she started sobbing.

The next thing I knew, Jasper was on the line, "Edward, you and Bella need to come home to Phoenix immediately."

"What happened to dad?" 

"He had a heart attack about an hour ago. It's bad, Edward. Al and I have a flight to Phoenix in two hours. Rose set up a flight for you two; but you need to call her to get the information."

"Yeah, I will. I'll call her now. We'll see you soon. Take care of my sister.

"Ok." And then the line was dead and I was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at my phone.

Bella scooted up behind me, place her legs on either side of mine, and wrapped her arms around me. She started to run one of her hands through my hair; something that she knew had a calming effect on me. It would have little effect on me today as I told her about my dad and called my sister in law. Within three hours Bella and I were in the air on our way to Phoenix.

Of all the ways that I envisioned us returning home, this was not it. This scenario had definitely never entered my mind. Rose said that it was a massive heart attack that hit while he and mom were out to dinner. He would need surgery but they were waiting until he stabilized before they risked such a dangerous operation.

Bella held my hand the entire time that we were in flight. I think that she knew if she was not holding me down I would have gotten myself arrested for pounding on the cockpit door and demanding that they go faster. The layovers themselves were driving me insane. Our first was in Frankfurt, Germany. There Bella made me eat something so I would not pass out on the plane. I noticed that all she ate was a sugar cookie and a cup of tea. She said that the stress of the day couple with the turbulence in the last flight had upset her stomach, and she promised to try to eat something on our flight when they served lunch. I was fine with that.

I tried calling my family during the layover but no one was answering their phones. This was not really surprising; Dad was in the ICU so they would have had to turn their phones off to go in there. I tried again on our layover in Boston, still no one answered. Part of me did not want to get on the plane that would take us to Phoenix. I think subconsciously I knew that life was never going to be the same.

We had told everyone that we would just grab a taxi to the hospital from the airport. We did not want to take anyone away from dad's side to come get us. I was already turning on my phone as we were stepping off the plane when Bella gasped and grabbed my arm. Emmett and Jasper were standing there waiting for us. One look at them was all I needed to see to know. I briefly thought that if I got back on the plane and returned to Italy I could pretend that it did not happen.

It was not until I felt Bella's arms wrap around me that I realized that I realized that I had sat down on the floor right there in the middle of everyone exiting the plane. I was trying to breathe but it was just so hard to get my lungs to work. Bella handed me my inhaler that she was holding in her purse while I struggled to gain control of my breathing.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jasper talking to some people in uniforms, probably trying to talk them out of arresting me for causing a scene. Bella pulled our passports out of her bag to show them to the officers all the while managing to never letting go of me. After about ten minutes I was able to get enough control over my breathing that we were able to move out of the way. I sat in some chairs that were close by while Jasper went to retrieve our luggage.

"When?" I finally asked

Emmett sighed and looked me in the eye, "about a half hour after your plane departed Venice. It was so quick. One second he was lying there holding mom's hand and then these alarms started going off and we were ushered from the room and then he was gone."

"How's Mom?" 

"She's at home resting. We left Alice watching over her and Rose. We better get going. I don't want to be away from Rose too long."

We got up and met up with Jasper who had just finished loading our luggage onto a trolley. We walked in silence to the parking garage as Emmett and Jasper led us to our car. I mean they literally led us to the car that Bella and I had had Alice and Jasper drive back to Phoenix back in January, "Yeah, uh, Rose has been driving it. She a little too big to fit in her car and we are trying to wait until after we move to buy a new van."

"That's fine. We don't mind at all," my wife answered.

We remained in silence for the whole ride to the house. It felt so strange when we pulled up in front of the house. My dad would never come home again. We trudged into the house and found Mom and Alice sitting in the living room having a cup of tea. Mom was sitting with her eyes closed when we walked into the room. Even resting, as she was, she looked so anguished, like she would never find peace again. Her eyes flew open the minute she heard us and she flew out of her chair and pulled Bella and I into these tremendous hugs and would not let us go. It was as if she thought that if she did let us go we would disappear.

When Bella and I finally managed to extricate ourselves from Mom's grip, Bella grabbed the teapot off of the coffee table and offered to go brew some fresh. I kissed her temple and let her go. Mom was watching Bella curiously as she left the room for the kitchen, "Is Bella alright? She looks a little pale."

"She had some motion sickness earlier from the turbulence on our first flight. It was so bad a lot of people got sick in flight."

"Ahhh…" was all she said before turning and following Bella into the kitchen. Emmett decided to go check on his pregnant wife while Jasper offered to take our luggage upstairs for me.

"I'm going to regret no being here to say goodbye for the rest of my life," Alice sobbed while reaching for a Kleenex.

"You weren't here?"

"I missed him by forty-five lousy minutes. I should have been here!"

"I know what you mean, but Al, it happens. Bella didn't get to say goodbye to her parents either. It's actually not that common to get to. At least Mom, Em, and Rose were there and he wasn't alone."

We sat in silence again waiting for everyone else to return to the living room. These long silences were making me ponder our family dynamic and what these silences meant. Was it our way of subconsciously acknowledging that someone's voice was missing? Were we so attuned to each other that we knew what each other were thinking without speaking? Or was there simply nothing more to be said?

Rose and Emmett came back down a few minutes later and my God, Rose was so big. And I mean that in a good, in the-you could really tell that she is extremely pregnant way. We all took turns putting our hands on her stomach to feel the baby kicking and rolling around. It was the most amazing feeling in the world and it was the only thing in this world that was going to bring peace, calm, and a smile to our mother's face today.

It turned out that Mom and Dad had made all of their funeral arrangements several years ago, so with one phone call everything was set in motion with very little stress for Mom. The only things that they did not have set were the flowers and the caterer. We all went together as a family to take care of it. I had no idea that flowers for a funeral could be that expensive. Talk about taking advantage of the grieving.

Clothing ended up being another issue for a few of us. Bella did not have a dress with her that would be appropriate for a funeral, because no one ever considers packing a funeral outfit when going on vacation. Rose needed a new dress; hers did not fit anymore due to the pregnancy. I was having a similar issue with my suit. I was not pregnant, but I had definitely gained weight since the last time that I had worn the suit. I blamed my weight gain on my wife's cooking and eating out so much. It was decided to that we would just have to go shopping the next day.

A/N: It's a long one but important! 

I promised that this was a fluffy story with very little angst and I stand by that. Someone had to go and I see Carlisle as a minor character in this fic. That being said, I still cried writing this. It really hits home for me. Better him than Edward or Bella, right? I know that I'd get lynched for that! Besides I would never do that!

It is also why I glossed over their last few countries. With the places that they were visiting and the museums and history that they were concentrating on, this fic would have become incredibly depressing for four or five chapters or more and I really did not want that. I am also aware that there is a lot more to the histories of Germany, Austria, and Poland, than the events surrounding WWII, but that is where I chose to concentrate their visits. Again, it hits home with me. I had relatives that were Jews in Poland prior to WWII and my grandfather served in the US Army in WWII. It was his job to find the concentration camps and attempt to free the prisoners. Most of the time they were too late. The pictures that he brought home with him were horrifying.

I still see at least five or six more chapters left for this story and that includes the two future takes that I wrote for charity compilations.


	31. Chapter 31

FYH Chapter 31

Oops!

BPOV:

When I woke up it was way too early in the morning. It was only six in the morning here in Phoenix and the time difference thing was wreaking havoc on my internal clock. It was wreaking havoc on my body as well. I was actually feeling well rested for once, having fallen asleep around eight the night before, but I was still feeling like I was coming down with the flu or something. Damn jet lag combined with the emotional stress of the day before wiped Edward out too. We tried to stay up as long as we could to spend time with our family, but we finally had to give in and crash. I figured it was going to take a few days to adjust to the eight-hour time jump we had forced our bodies into quite suddenly.

After lying in bed for a few minutes willing my stomach to settle down, I decided that getting up for a hot cup of tea sounded like the best way to settle my queasy stomach. I carefully crawled out of bed so that I did not wake up Edward and slipped out of the bedroom. Maybe it was the Chinese food we ordered in last night that was not settling well on my stomach. When I reached the kitchen, I found Esme sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee, "Good morning Esme. Did you manage to get any sleep last night?"

"Not really dear. I just keep expecting him to walk through the door."

I put my hand over hers and held it for a moment, "I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way when my parents died. Hell, I still expect them to call asking me where I am and when I am coming home."

Esme just nodded and focused back on her coffee. There was a TV on in the corner of the room tuned to the local news but she was not paying the slightest bit of attention to it. The smell of the brewed coffee was making me more nauseous than I was when I entered the room but I was determined to stay long enough to make my tea.

I took my tea, walked out onto a back patio, and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs. I had asked Esme if she wanted to join me outside but she just shook her head no and continued to stare at her coffee. I felt so bad for her. I knew a little of what she was going through. But losing your parents was not the same as losing your husband. It was going to take a while for her to get through this. At least she had her children to stand by her. If I had not had the Webbers, I know that I would have completely lost it.

There was a slight chill to the air this morning. I was glad that I had thought to grab my sweater off the chair as I left the bedroom. I had heard the weatherman state that the current temperature was only the mid fifties but would be warming to the upper eighties. That would be nice. Maybe I could come back out here and sit after we got back from shopping? The fresh air was making my stomach feel a lot better and I was actually a little hungry.

I had only been sitting there for a few minutes when I heard the sliding glass door open behind me. I turned and found Edward standing there in nothing but his pajama pants, "I woke up and you were gone. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just enjoying the fresh air."

"Mom said that you looked a little green. I brought you a croissant if you want it."

"Thanks honey. I am a little hungry."

He handed me the croissant and then leaned in for a quick kiss, "Do you mind if I go sit with Mom for awhile?"

"Your mother needs you and I am just fine out here on my own." He kissed me one more time and disappeared back into the house. I managed to eat about half of the croissant before my stomach could not handle anymore. I picked the rest of it into little pieces and tossed it out onto the lawn for the birds or any other wildlife that might be hungry.

I sat out there for another hour or so before deciding that I should drag my lazy back upstairs and into the shower. Both Edward and I had been too tired to take one last night so a shower was definitely necessary before I went dress shopping. As soon as I hit the kitchen, the smells from the breakfast cooking hit me. Suddenly the roll that I ate started churning in my stomach and I had to run for the stairs. I was trying desperately to make it to Edward's room before I lost it.

I was still leaning over the toilet when I felt Edward's hands pulling my hair back with one hand and wrapping the other arm around me and he was just hold me to his chest and he whispered in my ear, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" We just sat there for a few minutes until I was sure that I could stand on my own again. I when I did stand up, I closed the lid, sat back down, and laid my head on the cool counter with my eyes closed. I was vaguely aware of Edward turning on the water in the sink until he held a cool rag to my forehead. I open my eyes to find him squatting in front of me, "Are you feeling better now or do you want to lie down for a little while?"

"I'm actually feeling absolutely fine. I think I just needed to get whatever that was out of me. I don't feel queasy or light headed anymore. I just want a hot shower."

"Me too. That is why I came upstairs. You can go first though,"

"Wanna join me and conserve water." I winked at him and I stood up. It probably was not the best idea but we had not been together like that in more than a day and this nurturing side of him was really hot.

"Honey, you're sick. I don't want to make you…"

"Shh…I'm fine. I just ate something that didn't agree with me."

"Bella, please don't take this the wrong way, because you know that I love you and all, but you really smell incredibly gross right now."

"Oh! Such the romantic! You really know how to talk the ladies into your bed don't you." I tried to glare to glare at him but ended up laughing, "Yeah, I guess I don't smell all that great after that."

"You know that I still love you even if you do stink," he kissed my forehead and then started the shower for me.

I took my time , getting lost under the hot water. It was not until I turned off the shower that it hit me that I had forgotten to grab a towel. When I opened the shower door to yell for Edward to bring me one I noticed a big, fluffy white robe sitting on the counter. I had such a wonderful husband.

I grabbed it and slipped it on, and then I opened the door of the bathroom to let some of the steam out. I grabbed my toothbrush and got the last of the nasty out of my mouth. Edward came up behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and tried to kiss my neck but I just laughed and pushed him away, "You had your chance bub, and you blew it."

"Yeah, well, I am pretty sure that I know how to convince you to change your mind." 

"I am sure that you do, but we don't have time. You need to get your butt in that shower and I need to get dressed so we can get this shopping trip over with."

"Yes, ma'am!" He spun me around, kissed me hard on the lips, and then let go of me to jump in the shower while laughing. The quick movement of him spinning sent my stomach churning again so I went to lie down for a minute.

I was still lying down when Edward emerged from the bathroom and sat down on the bed with me, "I think you need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine. I swear."

"I don't know…"

"If it keeps up I will see a doctor, ok? I promise." 

"Ok. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Three hours later, although it felt more like it was three days later, we were standing in the third men's clothing store of the day, still searching for something that would fit Emmett's large frame.

It was extremely hot in the store. I had been feeling strange for about an hour and it was only getting worse. I asked Edward to go in search of a bottle of ice cold water for me while I wandered back towards the fitting rooms in search of someplace to sit down. Women's stores always had a chair for the husbands to sit in so I was hoping….YES! They had one. I plopped my butt down in it and started taking deep breaths while trying to will myself to feel better.

The moment I saw Edward heading for me with my water I stood up to meet him but that was a big mistake. The room started to spin around me and my vision started to blur. The last thing that I could remember before everything went black was vaguely hearing Edward screaming my name.

EPOV:

The absolute horror of watching my Bella collapsing was terrifying to say the least. I do not think that I will ever be able to erase ever detail of that moment from my memory. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her legs gave out from under her. She ended up hitting her head on the arm of a clothing rack as she went down hard enough to cause a lot of bleeding.

I was still about half the store away from and weaving my way quickly through the maze of racks. When I finally got to where she was lying, Mom was leaning over her hold a balled up shirt to Bella's forehead in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Emmett was already calling 9-1-1 while the young store clerk looked on in shock.

I dropped to the floor beside Bella, grabbed her hand, and started begging her to wake up. I was staring at her pale face and worrying about what could be wrong with her when she started to come to. Mom and I both held her down when she attempted to sit up, "Sweetie, stay down. You are going to need stitches for that gash on your forehead," Mom told her.

Bella groaned and looked over at me, then back to Mom, "I don't want to go to the hospital. I'll be just fine."

"Bella you promised to see a doctor if you didn't get better and you _are_ going."

She huffed at me, "this is completely unnecessary."

"Yes, it is. Edward is right you are going. Now quit arguing with us." Bella was not about to argue with my mom so she wisely decided to lie there and be quiet.

When the ambulance and started to load Bella in to the bus, Mom told the EMT's that she was Carlisle Cullen's wife and both she and I would be riding along with her daughter in law. They must have known Dad well because they did not argue, they both dropped their eyes for a moment, offered their condolences about Dad's passing, and helped Mom into the front seat and allowed me to ride in the back holding her hand.

They actually ended up taking us to Dad's hospital. Bella was getting a little irritated at the way that all nurses kept fawning over her. I do not think that she understood how much Dad meant to this hospital and the people that worked with him. They were going to miss him terribly and I am sure that it made them feel a little better being able to take care of his daughter in law when they could not help him.

Dr. Snow came into the room, walked over to Mom, offering her a hug, and then began to start stitching Bella's forehead. He was putting the finishing touches on his work when a nurse came in and showed him a sheet of paper and then Dr. Snow looked at Bella, "Bella, when did you have your last period?"

"Um, let's see…uh…"

Then it hit me. The last time I remember her having her period was when we were in... "In Austria while we were both sick with bronchitis."

"Shit. Was it really that long ago?"

"Thank you," was all that Dr. Snow said before walking out to examining room.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Snow return with the nurse and they were both bringing in a bunch of equipment. It had taken a couple of hours of tests and blood work but they were finally able to pinpoint the reason that Bella had been so ill lately.

"Bella. Edward. I have some great news for you. You're going to have a baby."

"That's not funny!" Bella yelled at poor Dr. Snow. "No, no, no, no! I can't be. I just can't be. This can't be happening." Bella started to sob her heart out then. It broke my heart to see Bella so upset about being pregnant. I mean I knew she didn't want kids right now. I knew that her education was important to her but there was no reason that we could not make it work out.

"Maybe, Nurse Jackson and I will just step out and let you have a moment to yourselves and then I will perform an ultrasound to see how far along you are." Both the doctor and nurse practically ran from the room.

Mom came over and sat by Bella and pulled her into a hug, "Bella, tell me why exactly this upsetting you so much. Is it because it wasn't planned?"

"I planned to start college soon. I was going to apply to the University of New England for the spring semester. I know it's extremely selfish but I really wanted to go and now I can't."

"Why can't you still go to school? I mean the spring semester might be out but you can start in the spring fall." Mom asked calmly.

"How am I going to classes with a baby?"

"Easy. I'll take the baby to the bookstore with me while you are in classes or need to study or we'll do daycare or a nanny or something. We can figure it out, Bella."

Then she started crying again, "I am already a failure at being a Mom. I am such a horrible, selfish person."

"You are not. This took you completely by surprise. It is completely understandable. Are you feeling better about this now?" Mom reassured her as she hugged her tighter.

Bella nodded and Mom stood up saying that she was going to go find Dr. Snow. In the silence of the room, I walked over to Bella, sat down next to her, and pulled her into my arms.

"I'm sorry, Edward."

"Don't be. I'm not exactly that calm over here myself. I'm still trying to figure out when it could have happened. We were so careful every time."

"Apparently not every time son or you wouldn't in this situation right now," Mom quipped as she reentered the room followed by Dr. Snow and the nurse who were both laughing at Mom's comment. Due to the fact that Bella was obviously very early in the pregnancy they had to use a trans-vaginal ultrasound on her instead of the one where they run the wand over her stomach. The second that they turned on the volume and we could hear the baby's heartbeat, both Mom and Bella started crying. I to have admit, I may have been tearing up myself.

The ultrasound showed that Bella was six weeks pregnant. We looked at each other trying to figure out where exactly we had been at that time and it hit us both at the same time, "St. Patrick's Day!"

"We were so wasted by the end of the day," I was wracking my mind trying to remember if we had actually used the condoms that night or not. The more I thought back to that night the more convinced I was that to be the night that it happened.

"Do we need to have a talk about the fact that you two are only nineteen and not old enough to drink let alone binge drink to such excess," Dr. Snow asked while he was printing out some pictures of the baby.

"If I remember correctly, they were in Ireland at that time, George," Mom told him.

"We were in Waterford, Ireland to be accurate. I really loved that part of the trip.," Bella sighed.

"Obviously!" The nurse blurted out make Mom and Dr. Snow laugh while Bella and I blushed.

The rest of the family was thrilled when we told them our great news. Rose was especially thrilled that their daughter was going to have a cousin about the same age to play with at family gatherings. I could not help but think about how my father was never going to get to meet or hold any of his grandchildren. I slipped off during the evening and sat by myself in Dad's office thinking about the last time that I had seen him.

I was even happier now that I had made the effort to come home for Christmas. I am positive that I would have regretted not making the trip for the rest of my life. My dad and I made our peace with our pasts and each other before I left here in December and I was grateful for that.

Bella walked into the room and sat down on my lap, "I won't be able to this much longer."

"Yeah, you will. I am worried about Mom though. She is going to be all alone here. We were talking about needing some help with the baby, so I was thinking about this and I want to ask Mom to move to Maine and live with us."

A/N:

Did you see that one coming? How far they've come. Many of you guessed it with her being pregnant. I am donating a story called 'Undeniably Yours' to the Fandom for Texas Wildfire compilation. You can find the link on my profile.


	32. Chapter 32

FYH Chapter 32

The Darkest Nights lead to Brightest Dawns

EPOV:

I was sitting on the edge of my bed staring at the floor. I groaned and started running my hands through my hair. I do not want to do this. There was no way that I could do this. Not today. Not ever. It just was not possible that my father was dead and we were expected to put him in a hole in the ground and just walk away leaving him there, as if it were a completely normal thing to do. How the hell did Bella do this? How did she manage to survive burying both of her parents at one time? Just the idea of burying my father had my lungs tightening to the point that I could not breathe. I groaned again and fell backwards, lying on my bed with tears starting to fall from my eyes.

"Edward, honey, I'm sorry, but you really need to start getting ready to go."

I opened my eyes as Bella walked out of our bathroom with her new black dress on. She had taken the time to pull her hair up and apply her makeup like she was headed to a party or something. I had to bite my tongue to keep from snapping at her. It wasn't her fault he died. She was not the one that set the date and time for this spectacle either and taking my bad mood out on her was only going to make her cry. That would only result in getting me in trouble with my mom and everyone else in the house. Bella walked over to the bed, climb up, and curled up beside me him her head on my naked chest. Yeah, we had to leave in a half hour, I was still in my pajamas, and that was just fine with me because I was not going to the damn funeral anyway.

"I am not going to tell you that everything is going to be fine or that it will get better or get easier. But I will be here to hold your hand, to listen to you, and to wipe your tears away when you need to let go and cry." I rolled us over so we were both lying on our sides staring into each other's eyes. I took her hand in mine and we just stayed there taking comfort in each other's presence.

Not even the days between our harried flight home and today had begun to prepare me for the finality that today's events would bring my family. I was never going to see my father again. I was never going to get to talk to him. I would never get to see him hold my child. Man, he would not be there when Bella gave birth. I closed my eyes and remembered the last time that I saw my father. I was lying right here in this bed when he came to tell me that he loved me and was proud of me before Bella and I left again. I did not even want to think about the level of regret that I would be suffering right now, if I had let myself chicken out of that surprise visit Bella and I had made for Christmas.

He had not always been the best father in the regard that he had completely disregarded my wishes and desires by demanding that I be a doctor like him, but I had always loved him. It was strange though, is that it was after I had run off with Bella, when I was hundreds of miles away from him, that we were the closest that we had ever been.

This week had simply been nothing short of unreal. My life was turned completely upside down in a matter of days. I went from finding out that my father was dead to finding out that I was going to be a father myself. I was completely thrilled about the fact that Bella was pregnant, even if the timing wasn't the best. I knew that she was scared and apprehensive about having a baby while trying to go to school. I was positive that we could handle it though, especially when my mother moved in with us.

I had many reasons for wanting Mom to move with us to Maine. They mostly revolved around not wanting her to be left alone in this house dealing with the memories of Dad and the loneliness. I had yet to talk to her about it though. I figured that there was no real rush. Bella and I were not going to leave right away. We wanted to stay in Phoenix until Rose had the baby but we were not sure that was going to be possible. We really needed to get her in to see a doctor in Maine and start prenatal care.

I felt the bed shift slightly and then Bella's lips touch mine for just a second before she started to pull away from me. I reached out and stopped her, pulling her back for another kiss. By the time that I let her go, I only had about fifteen minutes to shower and dress before the limo would be here to pick us up.

Ten minutes later, we were on our way downstairs to join the rest of the family who were waiting in the living room. Mom and Mrs. Webber were sitting on the couch together having a quiet conversation over a cup of tea. Angela and Ben had not hesitated to inform us that they were coming to Arizona the moment that Bella had called them with the news. They had refused our offer to stay with us until Mom took the phone away from Bella and informed Angela that they were going to be staying at the house and that was final. Since it would have been inappropriate to argue with the widow, Angela finally gave in and stopped bickering with Bella.

We waited until the Webber's got here before we told them about the baby. They were absolutely thrilled for us. Angela was already talking about throwing her a baby shower. Mrs. Webber told Bella and me stories about when Renee was pregnant with Bella. I knew that she was missed her parents all the time and my dad's death was making her miss them more. So, I started to formulating a plan in my head that when the Webber's returned to Seattle, we would go with them for a few days, if for nothing more than for Bella to have a chance to visit her parents' graves and leave them flowers before she got too far along in the pregnancy.

Mom looked up when she heard us come into the room and smiled at Bella. I swear she would be walking through the house crying and sobbing, and as soon as she would see either Bella or Rose her mood would immediately shift and she would start smiling. It was such odd behavior for my mother. Bella thought that it was simply because she and Rose represented that her husband would continue to live on in his children and grand children and that as long as we continued to expand the family, Dad would never be completely gone from her life.

I could understand that logic. I knew that Bella felt that way about her parents and our baby as well. I flopped onto the couch while Bella went to the kitchen, returning a a few minute later with a bag of saltines and some ginger ale to take with her. Shit! I should have thought of that and got it for her. Some husband and father I am turning out to be. It has been less than a week and I have already started failing at taking care of her. See, this is where I needed my father here. I needed him to help me learn this stuff.

I sat brooding in silence on the couch with Bella sitting right next to me. She was having a conversation with Rose about what to expect during a pregnancy. What managed to peak my attention, was when Rose and Emmett began talking about the first time that they felt their daughter move and kick. As if on cue, my niece started kicking up a storm. Bella and I both sat there with our hands on Rose's stomach and felt the baby rolling around. I seriously could not wait until I could feel our baby doing this in Bella's stomach. Especially after Rose swore to me that it did not hurt her it just felt weird. Emmett said that sometimes she would really get going and Rose's stomach would start be shift and rolling all over the place and he half expected some body part to punch its way through her stomach like in the movie Alien. Bella was starting to look a little freaked out at my brother's bout of verbal vomit until Rose grabbed her purse of the floor, smacked him with it, and told him to quit scaring Bella. Mind you that it was quite a large purse that I am positive filled full and quite heavy. But, we managed to get the attention of everyone else who was in the room with us.

Emmett was still rubbing the back of his head when the limo arrived. We all sat there looking each other. No one wanted to be the first one to move towards the door. Finally, Mom took a deep breath, stood, and took a step forward. Unfortunately, she was not as composed on the inside as she must have thought that she was because her step faltered and she started to go down. Jasper was the closest to her and caught her before she could hit the floor. He and Alice walked on either side of her, helping her outside and into the waiting car.

We had to take two cars because there were twelve of us going to the funeral. Bella and I rode with the Webbers, Rose, and Emmett while Mom was in the other car with Alice, Jasper, Angela, Ben, and Victoria. Victoria had been our housekeeper since I was a small child and we still lived in Los Angeles. She willingly picked up and moved with us, as we were the only family that she had in America. The rest of her family still lived in Ireland at the time, although, a couple of nieces have since moved to the US and visit her quite frequently.

Twenty minutes later, we were attempting to walk into the church but we kept getting stopped by friends and colleagues of my parents. So many people grabbed us to shaking our hands or hugging us and telling us how sorry they were about dad's passing. I felt like a toy that just kept being passed around and around. I introduced Bella to everyone that I knew. I did not recognize quite a few people, so Mom did the introductions for us. This seemed to be good for her. It was as if the more she put herself into the role of the duty of being a proper hostess, as it was, the more she seemed to hold herself together. It was as if she craved and needed that sense of normalcy to endure this day.

The service was nothing short of hell to sit through. More than once Bella had to put her hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing and then I just ended up getting so restless that I would start squirming in my seat. This, apparently, did nothing good for Bella's morning sickness as she would start taking deep breaths and munching on her crackers. I did however; keep my hand clasped in hers the whole time. She was my only lifeline to get through this and holding her hand was going to keep me from drowning today.

When we had met with the minister the other day, he had inquired whether any of us wanted to speak at the service. There was nothing that I had to say about my father, which wasn't personal between him and me. In the end, none of us kids felt volunteered to get up and give a speech, but Mom did.

When it was her time to get up, she spoke of a man that loved her from the moment that they met, a man that was devoted to not only her and their children, but was also devoted to his patients and the hospital that he worked tirelessly for, for many years. She cried when talked about how proud he was of all of his children and their spouses. She sobbed when she spoke of how she knew, in her heart, that he was never going to be too far from her, his children, or his grandchildren. He would watch over all of us from Heaven. When she was done speaking, Emmett and I went up to the alter and assisted her back to her seat.

The rest of the service passed by in a blur and the next thing I knew I was seated in a felt covered chair staring at a hole in the ground. I felt like throwing a temper tantrum, stomping my feet, and screaming at the top of my lungs that it wasn't fair.

At the conclusion of the graveside service, Mom stood up and took a flower off the top of the casket and silently turned and walked away toward the waiting car. The rest of us did the same. After Bella stumbled once from attempting to walk across the lawn with heels on, I wrapped my arm around her. It not only gave her leverage, but it was about the only thing holding me together at this point.

We were about half way to the car when I heard the voice that I never wanted to hear again in my life calling out my name. What the hell was she doing here? She couldn't possibly believe that she would be welcome here. Only she could find a way to make this day more of a nightmare than it already was. I sighed, not wanting to turn around and see her. I never wanted to see this woman again. I felt Bella's hand cover my hand with her own and lean further into me. Bella truly was my heart, my soul, and my rock. I kissed Bella on the temple and then resolved myself to turn around. It was time to stop running and deal with this woman for the last time. "Why are you here?"

"I came to pay my respects to a wonderful man that not only allowed me to live in his home but was like a father to me. And I've missed you, Edward. I wanted to see you again."

"Well, I haven't missed you, Tanya, and I certainly did not want to see you again, ever, and especially not on the day that I have to bury my father. This day has been hard enough on us without you making it worse for me and Bella. She is in no condition to endure any additional stress. Please leave."

"Please, Edward, we love each other and we are meant to be together." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my family come up and stand behind me.

"I never loved you. I was forced to be with you and it wasn't me that you were in love with, it was my trust fund."

"That's not true. Ok. I admit we had some problems but we can work them out and be happy again.

"I was never happy with you, I was miserable. In fact, I found someone I love who loves me back and makes me happy. I did not hesitate to drag her to a chapel and marry her before she could change her mind. She is my life."

"You married her!" She shrieked.

Bella started attempting to get me to release her hand, but I wouldn't budge, "Edward please, I need…"

"But what about me?" she whined.

"Edward, I can't…."

"What about you, Tanya? You have all the guys you cheated on me with to take care of you. Go harass one of them."

"Edward, I'm begging you…" Bella was desperately trying to get away from me now.

"Oh shut up and leave us alone. You're nothing but a home wrecking tramp. If you hadn't seduced my fiancé on the night before our wedding we'd be happily married right now."

I finally let go of Bella's hand intending to move in front of her to protect and defend her but I was too late. I finally understood what it was that Bella was trying to tell me because in that split second her morning sickness hit full force and hit Tanya dead center down the front of her dress. I grabbed Bella as she her legs started to give out on her, picked her up and carried her to the car. From behind me, I could her Rose, "Oh, nothing is wrong with her, Tanya; she is just pregnant with Edward's baby." Then Tanya really started shrieking and spouting more profanities than had probably ever been heard in the cemetery.

We piled into the cars as quickly as possible, not giving a thought to who was riding with whom this time. We hadn't even made it out of the cemetery when I heard laughter bubbling up beside me. It was Mom. She was trying her hardest to hold it back but was failing miserably, "That was fantastic! Oh my God, I loved that. Bella, my dear girl, Carlisle would have loved to see that!" That had us all laughing and Bella started blushing as she sipped on her ginger ale.

By the time the last guest had left and the catering company had finished cleaning up from the reception we were all sprawled out in the living room attempting to gather enough energy to get up.

Mom was the first to move. She said that she was going to change and then come back down to watch some of Dad's favorite movies with a bottle of his favorite wine and we were all invited to join her.

It took about twenty minutes for all of us to return to the living room in our pajamas. Mom came out of the kitchen with wine for everyone except Bella and Rose who both got ginger ale.

When Emmett got up the change the DVD after the first movie was over I finally decided it was the right time, "Mom, Bella and were talking and we want you to come to Maine and live us."

"Sorry, little brother, but Rose and I need her to come to Boston with us and help us with the baby."

"Excuse me. But she's raised her kids why should she raise yours too. She's coming to New York to live with Jasper and me and enjoy the freedom that comes with the city."

And then all hell broke loose as Emmett, Alice, and I started arguing over who Mom should come to live with. Bella, Rose, Jasper, and the Webbers were smart enough to stay out of it and remain seated on the couch. We were only arguing for a few minutes when Mom stepped in and broke it up, "Would any of you care to know what I want?"

That made me feel like shit. Here I was, doing the same thing to her that she did to me in the past. I was making decisions about her life without considering her feelings at all. It was exactly what she had done to me with Tanya and with her plans to move to New Hampshire part time. "I'm sorry Mom. I just don't want to see you left alone and lonely in this house when all of us are going to be on the other side of the country, so, what is it that you want to do, Mom?"

"As amazing as it is for me to have my children fight over who gets me, Alice is right. I have raised my children and do not want to raise my grandchildren. But that does not mean that I want to live in New York, either. I will be thrilled to come help you guys after the babies are born until you get the hang of things, but it will not be a permanent thing. I have plans for my life and none of you really need me to live with you."

"What are you planning to do, Mom?" Alice spoke up.

"your father and I decided months ago that he was going to retire next year and we were going to do some traveling of our own. There are so many places that your father and I talked about going to over the years and I going to stick with the plan. I think that it really is the best thing for me right now. And I won't be alone; I have Victoria and my friends. I'll be just fine."

"Have you decided where you are going first?" Bella asked as I returned to my seat next to her.

"Yes, I have actually. We booked a cruise some months ago for October. Not only do I still want to go, I know that Carlisle would want me to go too."

A/N:

Ok. Show of hands, who really expected her to move to Maine? See how well her therapy has gone. I tried to put some Bella POV in here but she was being a brat and wouldn't talk to me. Edward on the other hand wouldn't shut up.

I've started including teasers with my review replies for this story, let me know if you like that or not. If you are reading "Living Life" you know that I am writing an outtake from that story for the fandom for Texas wildfire compilation. It is Charlie's point of view from the point that he was called to come to Phoenix and it is already over 5k words. The link is on my profile. I can guarantee that I will not get another chapter of this story out this month. I am taking a long weekend and getting out of town for a few days.


	33. Chapter 33

FYH Chapter 33

Going home

BPOV:

I knew that they would have to go home soon. For some reason, it was so hard to face letting Angela go this time. When Edward suggested we follow them back to Washington for a couple days I was beyond thrilled.

There were so many things in my hometown I wanted to show Edward, but, mostly I just wanted to visit my parent's graves. When I still lived in Forks, I visited them every Sunday and brought my mom flowers. I always bought her two bouquets, one from me and one from my dad. I knew it was a little bit silly since he was lying next to her, but I just could not help myself. I knew that he would have bought them for her if he could.

As we were boarding the plane, Edward went to sit with Ben so Angela and I could sit together. Surprisingly, the plane ride did not aggravate my morning sickness, which was a good thing since I was not able to bring my crackers and ginger ale with me on the plane.

It was dinnertime when we landed in Seattle and I told everyone I suddenly had a major craving for pancakes from IHOP. Diane and David decided to get on the road as they had a long drive ahead of them to get to Forks. The four of us piled into Ben's car and he drove us to the IHOP. He knew exactly which one I wanted to go to and he probably knew why too.

Edward was definitely confused but I knew exactly what I was doing. Childish as it may be, I had to see for myself how far Mrs. Newton had fallen. I wanted to see for myself that they were living in misery, while I was happy. I don't think that Edward caught onto why I chose IHOP until we were seated and the waitress came to our table. She looked like she had aged at least twenty years since I had seen her in that courtroom. Her hair had always been long, curly, and blonde, now was cut shoulder length and was graying. Her perfectly manicured nails were chipped and ragged. Most of all, her face had aged and for the first time ever, I saw wrinkles marring her perfect skin.

She gasped when she got her first good look at us and realized who we were. She attempted to cover her shock by trying to act as if she didn't know us. But she just wasn't a good enough actress. She wasn't that good of a waitress either. I kept giggling uncontrollably every time that she dropped something, forgot anything, or got our order wrong. While Edward, Ben, and Angela found it amusing as well, they did not find is as amusing as I did. Maybe it was because it was so personal to me.

I only found it amusing until I got up to use the bathroom before we left. I walked around by the server's station and saw her leaning against a wall in tears. I immediately felt bad for finding joy in her misery. I would never feel sorry that she was in this position. he brought it on herself. But I did not have to revel in it. That was not how my parents raised me. I turned away, used the bathroom, and then returned to our table announcing that I was ready to go. I had seen all that I need to.

Edward and I were staying at Ben's apartment for the night. He only had a one bedroom apartment but his parents had giving him their old couch with a pull out bed when they helped him furnish the apartment. He insisted that he didn't mind sleeping on it.

Ben and Angela had called some of their friends and invited them over to the apartment for a little party. They were such nice people and I could see why Angela and Ben were friends with them. In fact, I actually could see myself being part of this group if I had come to Seattle with Angela like I had originally planned. It was a little weird to actually see what my life would have been like. Even though I would have been happy with that life, I was happier with the life I was living.

We got to talking about Angela and Ben's wedding. They had decided to get married next summer. They loved each other and did not see any point in waiting another year or more beyond that. Who was I too say anything about their decision? That had known each other their whole lives.

I felt a little bit jealous of a couple of the girls that they had invited over to the apartment. They were going to be bridesmaids in the wedding and were helping her with the planning. I know that it was ridiculous to feel that way since she called me all the time about wedding plans but I was not going to be much help to her beyond advice.

I was already falling asleep when every one, except for Angela, left around one in the morning. I vaguely felt Edward picking me up off the couch and carry me to the bedroom. I don't remember him actually getting into bed with me. I don't think he did right away because I could swear that I heard the shower running.

When I woke the next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking, I jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. When I was done, I made my way out to the little kitchenette and sat at the bar. Edward handed me a cup of tea and a piece of dry toast. I opened my mouth to question the tea because, to my knowledge, neither Ben nor Angela would ever keep tea bags in their kitchen.

"Ben and I ran to an all night store to get stuff for breakfast. I also have your ginger ale and crackers ready for the drive to Forks."

By midday, the two of us were on our way to Forks. My stomach was feeling better and I was bouncing in my seat during the whole four-hour drive. There were so many places that I wanted to show him.

We went straight to the Webber's home where we would be staying since we had sold my parents house. After Edward and I got our stuff settled into the bedroom that Angela and I had shared after I moved in, I took him on the quickie tour of Forks, because with Forks the only kind of tour you can have is a quick one.

We drove through town because he didn't want me to walk too much and wear myself out. We started at the house that I had lived in with my parents. We didn't go in obviously, but being there was quite enough for me. I really don't think that I would have been able to walk into that house without breaking down into tears anyway.

After that we went walking through the main street. We were walking past the diner when my dad's deputy, Mark walked out. I guess that would be Chief Mark now.

"Little Bella Swan! It's good to see you!" He gave me a quick hug.

"It's Bella Cullen actually. This is my husband, Edward." I corrected Mark.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Edward." At that moment Mark's cell phone went off and he excused himself to get back to work.

We continued down the street to where the camping supply store is located. I guess it was now my camping supply store. I never even thought about it since I had the Webber's handling all my business. But we walked in anyway to look around.

Marsha Cheney, Ben's mom, was in buying her daughter some new hiking boots. The moment she saw me see started screaming, "Bella's home!" Marsha and Kelly came running for me and enveloped me into a huge hug. I hadn't thought of them much but seeing them made me realize how much I missed everyone in Forks.

I introduced them to Edward and Marsha gave him a big hug too. She insisted on getting together with us later for supper at the diner. Something told me that she was going to be inviting everyone that she saw in town as well as everyone that would answer their phone this afternoon. I didn't mind really. I missed the people that I had grown up knowing. They were good people as well as good neighbors and friends. Marsha told me that a couple of the girls that I went to high school with had returned home from school already. Bree and Charlotte, they weren't as close to me as Angela was, but they were friends and I had not kept in contact with them since I left town.

After finally getting away from Marsha, I decided to take Edward to First Beach. It was the setting of the majority of my childhood memories. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up a couple of sandwiches and chips for a picnic lunch on the beach.

I was a warm and sunny afternoon, which in Forks was a miracle. As I was lying on the blanket I had grabbed from my sporting goods store, Edward kept running his hand over my stomach. I knew he did it a lot when he thought I was asleep but, this was the first time he did it knowing I was awake.

I decided that I had better get up and get moving before I fell asleep. Both of knew if that happened he would be stuck there for hours waiting for me to wake up. We decided to take a stroll along the beach.

We had only been walking for a short distance when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to find my old friends Quil and Embry running for me. The grabbed me up and each of them spun me around before setting me back down on the ground. But it was enough to set off the morning sickness. I fell to my knees and started taking deep breaths while Edward rubbed circles on my back in an effort to comfort me. It took a lot of effort but I kept from actually throwing up.

"Girl. All the traveling you've been doing has turned you into a light weight with a week stomach."

"I don't have a weak stomach," I protested, "It's just morning sickness."

"_You're pregnant!"_ Came a new voice from behind me. I looked up to see my ex, Jacob, standing there in absolute shock. I should have known that there would be a good chance that I would run into him by coming here to the beach but I honestly never think about Jacob anymore. We sat where we were, with Edward and I kneeling on the ground and Quil and Embry right next to us. Jacob stood over us looking horrified. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

EPOV:

We sat there with this guy standing over us and glaring at us. I helped Bella off the ground and she turned to him, "Hello, Jacob. This is my husband, Edward Cullen. And yes, I am pregnant."

This was her ex-boyfriend? Part of me was hoping that he would say something stupid and I would get to hit him. But the bigger part of me was hoping that he didn't. First of all, I didn't want Bella to get upset and second, this guy was huge and so was his two friends who I was sure would be happy to help him beat my ass if I tried to hit him.

"When did you get married? And why weren't we invited?" The one named Quil started yapping at her.

"How far along are you? You don't look pregnant."

"We got married months ago in Reno and I am only a couple of months along."

"Congrats, girl! Are you back for good? We've missed you around here."

"Uh…no. We are only here for a couple of days. I wanted to show Edward my hometown."

"You have to come say hi to Dad. Please? He would be hurt if he found out you were this close and didn't come by." This guy had to be kidding. Did he really expect us to spend the afternoon with him?

"Of course. I wouldn't hurt Billy that way." The Jacob guy reached out and grabbed her hand and started leading her down the beach. She grabbed me quickly and I held onto her waist as we walked. I guess we were going to spend the day with Bella's ex-boyfriend.

As we approached a little red house, Jacob finally let go of Bella's hand and ran into the house yelling, "Hey Dad! I picked up some beach bums and dragged them home."

An older man in a wheel chair came into the hallway as we walked through the door and smiled when he saw Bella.

"Oh my dear girl, you have come home."

"Just for a visit, Billy. There is someone that I want you to meet." She grabbed my hand and pulled my forward so that I was right next to her again, "This is my husband, Edward." Then she introduced Billy as her father's best friend.

Billy looked up at us and smiled, "Well congratulations. I am so very happy that you have found your peace and happiness."

"Thank you, Billy."

"Oh and they are having a baby." Jacob yelled sarcastically from the kitchen. I liked Billy but Jacob was really getting on my nerves. I was really struggling to keep from embarrassing Bella by saying something rude to the asshole. Luckily, the one Bella introduced as Quil got up, grabbed Jacob by the collar, and dragged him out the back door.

"Please forgive my son's behavior. This is a bit of a shock to him."

"He didn't actually expect me to come back and get back together with him?"

"I don't think so," Embry spoke up, "but I think he's realized what a great thing he's screwed up and he has missed you Bella. We all miss you around here."

"Yeah, we have no one around to entertain us by tripping over air all the time."

"Ha Ha! Very funny. But tell me how everyone has been since I left." We sat in the house for hours while they told Bella everything she had missed while traveling with me and when Jacob finally returned, Bella and I told them about all of our adventures and the amazing places we had seen. Before we realized it, the whole afternoon had passed and it was time to head back to Forks for dinner. As we were leaving, Bella was hugging each one of them. Billy reached up and put his hand on mine, "Charlie would have been proud to call you son."

"Thank you Billy."

Then I walked up to Jacob and he reached his hand out to shake mine, "You are good for Bella. I can see that. Take good care of her and that baby and please bring her back to visit us again. It would mean a lot to Dad….and to me." and then he turned and ran out of the house.

Dinner was an experience I'll never forget. It seemed like the whole town turned out to see Bella. They fed us. They made us laugh. Then they fed us more. I was so happy that she was feeling well enough to enjoy the meal and the company. She was having this private conversation with a girl that she had introduced as Jessica and every few seconds they would look up at me and start to giggle. I wondered what the hell they were talking about. I was about to get up to join them when another person walked over and introduced herself as Leah. I saw Bella's smile grow the next time she looked up at me saw who I was talking to. Leah was quite interesting and had no verbal filter. I unfortunately learned that while taking a drink of soda when Leah blurted out, "It's a damn shame Bella is straight. She was always so fucking hot! I would have loved to get my hands on her." After a choking fit that included shooting soda out of my nose, which burns like hell by the way, Bella came over and joined us.

By the time we made it back to the Webber's house we were both completely exhausted and stuffed. After both of us taking some medicine for indigestion, we collapsed into the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning Mrs. Webber knocking on the door to tell us that breakfast was ready woke us. Unfortunately, the second Bella got sight of the sausage links and fried eggs she ran from the room. I went to follow her but Diane insisted that I stay and eat while she tended to Bella.

After Bella was finally able to get down some toast and tea, we took off for the day. Our first stop was at the little flower shop in town. We picked up two bouquets and continued on to the cemetery.

Bella had put up a beautiful monument to her parents. It was two angels sitting on a bench with their heads bowed together so their foreheads were touching. We sat there for hours while Bella talked to her parents. She told them everything from meeting me, the wedding, her favorite places we visited, our house in Maine, and the baby. She started crying when she said that she wished that they could be here to see the baby. After she calmed down, she continued on talking to them and I stood up, wandered off, and looked at the gravestones surrounding her parents.

I found her grandparents and her great grandparents on both sides of her family. And couple of people that I believed to be a great aunt and a great uncle. I continued wandering around the cemetery and taking in all the names that I recognized as belonging to the people that I had met over the last two days. The families that lived in this town went back for generations. I wondered if Bella knew a family that had an interesting story that I could help tell. Then it hit me that this whole town had a story to tell. The people that I had met went beyond friends and neighbors; they considered everyone one of their fellow townspeople to be family. Maybe one day she and I could come back and stay for awhile so that I could tell that story.

When I looked up again I saw Bella had started crying again. I started for her but she waived me off and I continued to wander around. I returned to her side when she was ready to go. I wanted to get us out of her before it started raining again. It would not be good for her to get caught in a rainstorm and catch a cold.

She drove us up to Port Angeles where we wandered around the boardwalk on the Ocean and did some shopping. There was a little book store that specialize in local history and folklore. Bella admonished me on a couple of the books that I bought on local legends dealing with vampires and werewolves as being complete rubbish and not worth the money I spent.

We ate at an early dinner at a little Italian place called La Bella Italia. Bella didn't even have to look at the menu to know exactly that she wanted the seafood alfredo. I ordered the same thing and some ravioli as an appetizer. I had to admit that the food was every bit as amazing as she told me it was. She wanted to order a piece of chocolate cake for dessert but she couldn't stop yawning. We had been doing a lot of running around and walking the last couple of days and she so worn out she was fast asleep in the passenger seat before I pulled out of Port Angeles.

After I tucked my beautiful wife into bed, I grabbed my journal and finished the story of a journey that had started with a chance meeting in a hotel bar and a leap of faith.

"Tomorrow we would head back to Phoenix for Mother's Day and then in the next few days, we would go to Maine and set up our home and start our lives there. Even though, it was time for us to settle down and become responsible adults and parents didn't mean that we ever stop traveling. Over the next few months, we would return to Phoenix when my niece was born, we would go to Boston to help my brother's family get settled into their new home, and we would travel to St. Louis to witness our friends pledge their lives to each other. I remember the despair that drove me to go down to that hotel bar that night. The only thoughts that I had in my mind that night was how I could manage to run from the future that had been planned for me, it never occurred to me that I was actually running toward a future that was my true destiny."

A/N:

Sorry for the delay…again. This is the last regular chapter in this time frame. The next two are the future takes and have time jumps of a couple of years and then we have the epilogue. There is one more outtake that I am going to write. I had a request to do a Tanya POV. I think it would be fun to explore that. But I need to finish the story first.

I have another project in the works. It will be shorter than this was. I will put up a summary soon.


	34. Chapter 34

Follow Your Heart-Future-take

Bethie and Benji

I could not believe that we were here again, and so soon. Allyssa was only two years old and now we were going to have three children under the age of three and all still in diapers. It's not that I didn't love my children. I just did not want us to becoming overwhelmed and lose us in the process. I ended my inner musings there and got out of the shower. I was going to be running late soon if I did not get moving and that would not be good for business. Bella and I were trying to lay off our savings as much as possible having spent a good portion of it on our travels, the house, and the bookstore.

"Bella!" I yelled through the house as I exited the bedroom. "I can't find any clean socks!"

"They're in the laundry room waiting to be washed because I just didn't get to them yesterday." Her voice came from the area of the living room so I made my way down there. I found her sitting in the rocker while Allyssa sat on the floor playing with her blocks. Anyone that ever said that a stay at home mom had it easy obviously never met one. I think Bella works harder than I do most days.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should have started a load when I got home last night."

"You were late coming home last night because of inventory at the store. I'll try to get to the laundry today."

"Don't stress it." I said and then I saw her wince and arch her back. "Is your back hurting again?"

"Yeah. I just feel kinda funny today."

"Did you call your doctor?"

"Not yet. I will." With that, she closed her eyes and I left in search of a pair of socks that were clean enough to wear for one day. I ended up finding a pair of dress socks but also thought to go ahead and start a load of laundry. I was just putting the lid to the washer down when I heard a crash and Bella yelling, "Stay away". I ran back for the living room only to find that them both gone. Panic started to set in as I yelled for Bella. Relief set in quickly though when I found them in the kitchen.

"Lyssa wanted juice and I-water." She was crying and sounded out of breath. Then I noticed the broken glasses and plates on the floor at her feet and Lyssa sniffling in the corner. "I didn't mean to scare her but she's not wearing any socks or shoes and I didn't want her to step on the glass and get hurt."

I kissed her on the forehead "Just go back to the living room, sweetheart, and I will clean this up."

"But Edward my water—"

"Yeah. I'll bring you some water too, when I'm done here." I interrupted her, distracted as I went to get the broom from the closet.

"No Edward. I do not want any damn water! My water _**broke**_!" I turned back to her and saw the puddle on the floor for the first time, and suddenly cleaning up the mess on the floor did not seem so important. I ushered them both out of the kitchen and back to the living room. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and started making calls as I made my way upstairs to get Bella's bag. The first call I made was to our doctor. He was able to calm my fears by telling me that giving birth three weeks early was extremely common and there was rarely anything to worry about. In addition, Bella had had a normal and healthy pregnancy thus far.

I still remember when Bella was pregnant with Lyssa and I started panicking at becoming a father for the first time. I had been reading the pregnancy books that I had stocked in the bookstore and came across a bunch of horror stories about everything that could go wrong during a pregnancy and delivery. I went to see our doctor on my lunch because I didn't want to upset my pregnant wife and he sat there patiently listening to my insane ramblings and when I was done he looked me right in the eyes and said-,

(flashback)

"_Edward, I have been delivering babies in this town for over thirty years. I am now delivering the babies of the babies that I delivered. I know what complications can arise but I will tell you this. Worrying about the what-ifs will only drive you and your wife crazy at you won't be able to enjoy the pregnancy. You do trust that I know what I am doing, right? You trust that I will take excellent care of your wife and baby, to the best of my abilities, right?" _

"_Yes, of course I do and so does Bella."_

"_Then how about this, why don't you let me do all the worrying about all of the what-ifs that can happen. I know when its time to panic so you can just stay calm. Let's you and I make a deal, ok, if _I _start__ panicking, then you can panicking. Ok?"_

's voice brought me back to the present by calling my name, "Edward! Pay attention! Do you remember our deal?"

"Yes sir."

"And does it sound like I'm panicking here?"

"No sir"

"Good. Now _CALMLY go _get your wife and bring her to the hospital and let's deliver these babies."

I hung up the phone with him and found that Bella had found dry pants for herself and shoes for Lyssa and was trying to get them on her. I took the shoes and told Bella to go sit down again while I got everything together. I had called Mary, my assistant, and one and only employee, while upstairs getting Bella's bag and told her that Bella was in labor. She immediately volunteered to help me out before I even had to ask her.

As I was strapping Lyssa into her car seat, Bella started crying, "Your mom's not here yet! She was supposed to keep Lyssa for us. What are we going to do with her? I don't want her to witness this, it will traumatize her."

"We're swinging by the bookstore. I already called Mary and she will be there and is going to watch her for us until Mom can get here."

"Oh thank God!. But…uh oh... OH GOD! Hurry! I'm having contractions now." One of the real joys of living in a small town is that you could actually walk where ever you wanted or needed to go, if you had to, so the drive to the book store only took a couple of minutes. I ran Lyssa inside and stayed only long enough for Mary to tell me that she already called my mother who was working on getting everyone to Maine. I was never so glad that I always kept extra diapers, clothes, and toys here for Lyssa. It had been one less thing to worry about. I thanked Mary about a hundred times before I ran back out the door and back to my wife who was currently having yet another contraction.

Considering the fact that everything that had progressed so fast this morning, Bella's progress had slowed down dramatically, to a near stand still, once we made it to the hospital. Mom called about two hours after we got there. She still had not been able to reach Alice and Jasper, but they were on vacation in Ireland at the moment. They had been trying to get pregnant for a while now, with no luck, and they had said something about trying to find the same luck the Bella and I had, when we were there. She did get a hold of Rose though. Rose and Emmett were going to wait in Boston for Mom's flight to get in and then she would ride with them to Maine. The only problem was that the first flight that she could get did not leave for another four hours and then the flight itself would take four hours with layovers. Then it would take them another hour and a half to drive here from Boston.

Bella and her nurse, Judy, who was new in town, and I talked the afternoon away as we waited for her to progress enough to start pushing. We spent the day recalling some of our favorite memories together. We regaled her with stories about the night we met, and our weird, extended honeymoon. She laughed as we mentioned how Emmett still loved to tease us about the fact that we started our honeymoon before were even engaged. We told her about the book that I wrote about our trip and how proud my family was of me when they held it in their hands. I had managed to turn it into a novel telling readers not only about our travels but also of us falling in love.

Bella couldn't stop laughing as we recalled being in Phoenix for the 4th of July about two months after it was released when Mom dragged us to a bookstore. I really didn't want to go in and I told mom that whatever she wanted I could probably get it for her cheaper. She said it was a local history thing so I let it drop. Those were hard to get, not impossible, but it would be a pain to locate anyway. Bella, Lyssa and I were just coming out of the coffee bar part of the bookstore when I heard mom scream, "OH MY GOD! THAT'S MY SON'S BOOK"

I didn't think it would have been possible for me to turn any redder than I was at moment, but Bella said that I actually achieved it, though, when I looked up to find my mother standing by a display that sure enough had my book on it and then she proceeded to point me out to the whole store. It only took a matter of seconds before a group of giggling college girls mobbed me. Bella, who was used to this from the book tour that she had accompanied me on, just grabbed Lyssa and slipped off quickly. She went to stand by the door, with my siblings and their spouses while they all laughed asses off at me while I sighed and engaged in an impromptu book signing. While I still do not think that it was all that funny, that moment sticks out with me for nothing more than the look of pure pride on my mother's face when she was looking at the display.

Then Bella and I, told Nurse Judy about the day we heard the heartbeats, for the first time, for this pregnancy. The night before our appointment, we had been out to dinner with some friends, including a nurse that worked in Dr. Conner's office, Chrissy. She was a close friend of ours, and she was excited to hear that we were pregnant again. At one point, she asked if we had decided on how many children we wanted to have and Bella answered immediately three. Chrissy laughed her ass off when Bella told her about the deal we had made. Bella had originally wanted only two and I wanted four. Therefore, we compromised that she would go through the painful process of giving birth to three babies, but I had to go through the painful procedure of having a vasectomy. I grimaced at the idea of someone cutting into me there, but it was only fair, I guess. Well, according to my wife it was more than fair, and I was not about to argue with her. I was not looking forward to having it done, but I knew that I had quite a bit of time before I actually had to worry about that.

The next day at the appointment, it turned out that Bella was far enough along that we were able to hear the heartbeat:

(_flashback)_

_Bella and I were practically bouncing off the walls as we were called back by Chrissy. We had decided to bring Allyssa with us as we wanted to keep her as involved with the pregnancy as possible to reduce the chances for her to become jealous of the new baby, but in reality, she was only two years old so it was not as if she would really understand much of what was going on. I pulled Lyssa onto my lap as Bella settled herself on the examining table. _

_As soon as they turned the speaker on for us, I noticed that there was a lot of noise, more than I remembered there being with Allyssa. That is when Chrissy started laughing. I asked her what was so funny as she looked right at me and said, "It's time for you to pay up, bub, and make that appointment with the urologist." Bella and I both looked at her in confusion until Dr. Conner, smiling himself, told us that we were hearing two heartbeats…we were having twins_. I _swear I almost passed out right then and there_.

(_end flashback_)

It took Bella eight very long hours to progress to the pushing stage. Once again, she had opted to get the epidural. She had gotten that when she had Allyssa, and she told me that she felt like she could really relax a little, and actually enjoy the labor and delivery.

As we moved Bella to position her for pushing, I noted that according to the clock, Mom should be arriving in Boston any minute and our family would be here in a couple of hours. In fact, her plane was probably coming in for the landing right now. Dr. Conner was giving Bella some last minute instructions and reminder before she began to start pushing, which would be on the next contraction that she felt.

After forty-five minutes of pushing, our son Benjamin was born. As I took a count of, and ensured, that he had all ten fingers and all ten toes, I also noted that he already had my crazy bronze hair, Then, I handed him back to the nurse, who put a band on his wrist before handing him to Bella. Then I started to cry. My son. This was my son. I leaned down and kissed his forehead before I kissed Bella's as well. "I love you so much, Bella." I choked out. We were able to enjoy the moment for only a couple of minutes longer before another contraction hit Bella.

We knew from our classes that the contractions would start up again and she could regress a bit between the births. What I was not prepared for, however, was the blood-curdling scream that erupted from my wife mere seconds before all hell broke loose in the room.

I grabbed my son from her arms a split second before my Bella collapsed back onto the bed and her eyes rolled back in her head as the alarms on the monitors all went off startling Dr. Conner, who looked at me with a panicked look on his face, a split second before he and the nurses sprang into action. Everything was a blur from there all I every really heard were things like; "fetal distress", "we're losing both of them", and "sign this now" as a clipboard was thrust into my face. I had no idea what it was that I was signing, but I did as I was told. I was completely in shock. I had no idea what had gone wrong, she was absolutely fine and smiling just a moment ago. Within seconds, mere moments actually, everyone was gone from the room, including my wife, leaving me standing there, alone, holding my newborn son, with tears streaking down both of our faces as we both cried.

I was still standing there, alone, staring at the door, and willing someone to come back and tell me what the hell was going on with my wife and our baby, when Mom and Rose came into the room and came to an abrupt stop when they saw that it was just me and my son standing there crying. They rushed over to me, Mom grabbed the baby from me while Rose just held onto me while I cried and I told them what had just happened, and that I had no idea what was going on with my wife or our baby. Emmett came in a couple of minutes later laughing and carrying his daughter, Brianna, on his hip and paled when he took in the scene in front of him.

We just stood here in complete silence until Dr. Conner returned to the room with a tired and worn look on his face. I collapse into a chair that I had no idea was just behind me, before the doctor came over and squatted before me, "Bella is going to be fine. She is in recovery right now."

"You panicked," I accused him; it was the only thing that I could get to come out of my mouth. Really, it was the only coherent thought that I had in my head at the moment.

"Yes, Edward, I did. I panicked."

"What happened?" Mom asked him in a voice that was no more than a whisper.

"Edward, look at me." I looked up into his eyes and he put his hand over mine before he continued. "It was a series of things actually, and none of it I could have seen coming, but I am sorry Edward that I didn't anticipate it. I am so, so sorry. The second baby got turned sideways while Bella was delivering the first baby, and in the process managed to get the cord wrapped around her neck. Then, as the baby went into distress, both of their heart rates dropped, and I had no choice but to get her to the OR and get the baby out of her. Unfortunately, once we got in there that was not the end of the complications. Bella started to hemorrhage and I had to perform a complete hysterectomy on your wife to save her life. I'm sorry, Edward."

I could not believe what I was hearing. I could not believe how close I just came to losing my wife and my daughter. "My baby?" I asked outright sobbing now.

"Your daughter has been revived and stabilized and is in the NICU. Dr. Green was the one tending to her and he will be down here in a moment to discuss her condition with you."

"What do you mean 'revived her'?" Emmett spoke up.

"Technically your daughter was not breathing, nor did she have a heartbeat when she was born, Edward." Dr. Conner replied looking me straight in the eye. At that moment, Dr. Greene walked into the room and expanded on what Dr. Conner was already telling us. She had been clinically dead for three minutes before they were able to revive her. She would have to stay in the NICU for at least a few days, and no one would know the full effects the oxygen deprivation would have on her for months, maybe even years to come. However, they were extremely hopeful that she would pull through this.

After telling me that it was going to be at least another hour before they brought my wife back to the room, I left my son with my family, and went to meet my daughter. Those NICU rooms had to be one of the scariest places in the hospital. And there was my angel, My Bethanny, as Bella and I had already named her. She had wires stuck everywhere and was on a ventilator, but she was beautiful, and she was alive, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

After spending a half an hour watching her and talking to her as she slept, I returned to the rest of my family. Mom was rocking my son when I walked in. "I know that you've been a bit busy darling, but do we have a name for this little boy yet?"

"Oh my God, I didn't even tell you he was a boy, did I?"

"That's ok dear. I figured it out when I changed his diaper."

"Benjamin. His name is Benjamin Carlisle Cullen." Mom's eyes started glistening again.

"Dad would have loved that." I heard Emmett choke out. I looked up to him crying as well. Then he cleared his throat and asked, "What is my new niece's name?"

"Bethanny Angelica."

"You're naming your daughter after our family therapist?" Rose spoke up a little amused.

"Not quite. While we are grateful for all she did for us. We just like the name and the way that the two go together…Bethie and Benji."

"I love it too." Mom added.

And with that we sat in silence until Bella was returned to the room forty five minutes later half awake. She opened her eyes and took in everyone in the room before asking where our daughter was. I informed her on our daughter's condition and told her how beautiful she was because she looked just like her mama. I opted to wait until she was more awake before telling her that we would not be able to have any more children. The three angels that we had were the only ones that God was going to grace us with after all.

The next couple of days were stressful on all of us. I stayed at the hospital with Bella and the twins alternating between Bella's room and the NICU. Bethie, however, had a few setbacks. First a lung infection set in when she was only two days old and then while I was watching her one day I noticed that she wasn't moving her right arm and leg as much as her left. Again, I was told that only time would tell the extent of the damage caused at birth.

Mom, Emmett and Rose were going to stay at the house while helping with Lyssa and the bookstore. I needed to be at the hospital and Mary, as great as she was could not run the bookstore on her own. It was definitely a two-person job. We knew that a lot of people had wanted to come up and visit but the news that there major complications spread through the small town like wildfire and kept people away out of respect. That did not keep the flowers, candy, or cards away, though. The room was overflowing more than a Hallmark store on Valentines Day.

Bella obviously had a lot to come to terms with when it came to the hysterectomy. Even though we had already decided we did not want to have more children, knowing that she _could not_ have more children was a completely different thing. There is a big difference between "don't want to" and "can't". There would be no changing our minds in a few years if we decided that we wanted more children. That was a hard pill for Bella to swallow.

Bella and Benji were released from the hospital about a week after he was born. Bethie stayed for another two weeks. The night that Bethie finally came home, after Bella and I put all of the kids to bed, we returned to the living room where we found Mom coming out of the kitchen having just finished cleaning up from supper. She walked over, sat down in the chair across from us and closed her eyes. We all took a moment to appreciate a rare moment of silence in the house. Bella and I had been discussing something for about the better part of the last two weeks and we really needed to discuss it with mom. "Mom, Bella and I want to ask you again, would you please consider come here to live with us, and help us out with the kids and the house?" And with a simple reply of, yes, it was a done deal. Mom only returned to Phoenix once more and that was to retrieve her personal belongings that she wanted to bring to Maine and arrange for the house to be sold. Everything else would go into storage.

Over the next couple of years, it would be determined that Bethie had limited use of her right arm and leg and had mild asthma, the doctors believed that she may have suffered a small stroke do to the extreme trauma surrounding her birth, but thank God there were no diminished brain functions. She would be limited but not handicapped.

Jasper and Alice did not find their luck in Ireland after all, and after seeing what Bella and I went through with the delivery of the twins; they got scared and stopped trying. They opted to do foster care instead and give a home to children that needed to be wanted and loved. And isn't that all any of us ever really want out of life….just to be loved.

A/N

I am thrilled to finally be able to post these outtakes here. The next outtake should go up in about a week and then it's the epilogue. I started the epilogue the other day. I love you all. Enjoy!


	35. Chapter 35

Future Shot

First Day of School

I woke to two little eyes staring me me right in my face.

"Get up, Daddy! Mommy says it's time to get up! I can't be late for my first day of school, you know."

I groaned and sat up while my daughter yanked on my arm in an attempt to pull me from the bed. I was not looking forward to today. Today I would send my little baby girl off into the cold, cruel world to fend for herself. Alright, maybe I was being a little dramatic. It was only kindergarten but still, I was not ready for this. This little girl had been by my side practically her whole life. I started taking her to work with me at the books store when she was only a few months old. Although it was rare these days for her to come spend the whole day the whole day with me at the store since Mom moved in with us. But, knowing that now she was in school at all day those days were over saddened me.

I sat up, turned on the TV to her favorite channel, and left her watching cartoons in my room while I went to take a shower. When I came back out, she was gone so I figured that Bella had come to get her for breakfast. I was still grumbling about babies and society forcing kids to grow up too fast when I walked into the kitchen. My mom was standing at the counter finishing plates for the kids when she looked at me and started to laugh.

"Really, dear, you have to learn to let go sometime." I just glared at her and she laughed even harder, handed me a cup of coffee and a plate, and told me to go feed my child. I would have loved to make a rude comment back to her about that but we had long since moved past our issues and that was ancient history. Allyssa had been a huge surprise but the next pregnancy, well-we planned on the pregnancy, but not the extra child. Nor did we plan on the complications.

It had been the single most terrifying thing that I had ever experienced in my life. Benjamin had been born; perfectly fine, but just minutes after he emerged, alarms started going off and Bella started panicking. The doctor quickly determined that our second daughter had the cord wrapped around her neck. They quickly rushed Bella out of the room for an emergency C-section while I stood helpless and alone in the delivery room. Bethany had been deprived of oxygen for an extended amount of time and had to stay in the NICU for awhile.

She had slight developmental issues, but nothing that would hold her back completely. Our Bethany was a complete angel and a perfect mix of Bella and me while Benjamin was a miniature me. Even at three years old, he liked to follow me everywhere and mimic everything that I did. Allyssa, however, was a replica of her mother in every way. All in all, I was a very lucky man with an extraordinary family.

I sat down at the table and gave my son his plate then turned to see my wife soothing our Bethie, as I called her. She always reminded me of Bethie from Little Women. She was always so warm, loving, and patient . Except for times like this. She had been trying to get her eggs on her fork. Her failure to do so made her so frustrated she threw her fork across the room. At this point, she would try to give up and start to eat with her fingers but we would always have to stop her. Things like this were difficult for her but they were not impossible. The doctor didn't want us to let her get away with taking the easy way out and giving up. We had to keep pushing her achieve her goals and not accept any limitations.

I reminded Bella that we had book club at the store tonight. I had implemented that a couple of years ago. Then I realized that many of the adults that came to the book club were parents that needed something to do with the kids. So I started a few children's book clubs. They were set in various ranges. The three to six year old group just had a volunteer read a book to them. The six to nine year olds read a book there at the store and then drew pictures about the story while they talked about it. . Then we had the nine to twelve and the thirteen to eighteen groups that ran just like the adult groups, but they were held on a separate night. It was a great success, especially here is such a small town. The schools here loved the book clubs and encouraged the kids to participate. We were probably the most literate town in the country.

As soon as the breakfast was done, Mom reminded us that if we wanted to get pictures of Allyssa, we needed to get to it or she would be late for school. So Bella and I grabbed the camera and took our little baby girl outside and damn near filled up the whole memory card with pictures of her. They had gone up to Boston last week to buy a new dress and new shoes and a back pack with a ton of new school supplies. Allyssa had talked Bella into buying herself a new outfit as well, seeing as it was her first day of school too. Because of all the time that Bella had needed to take off, she still had another two years to go to get her teaching degree. It was such a beautiful morning that we had decided to walk to the school. Bella was behind me with Bethie, and Mom right behind her with Ben, but I had my Lyssa. She was my baby girl and always would be.

After quite a few tears from all of us, we left Allyssa behind at school and made our way back home. That is where; I guess you could say life went back to normal again. I kissed my wife, kids, and my mother goodbye before heading to my car to go open the bookstore. I watched as Bella got into her car and leave for school and Mom went back into the house with the twins before I finally pulled out of the drive. I still drove the Journey. I flat out refused to trade it in at all. I handled the upkeep meticulously to keep it safe and reliable. It just held too many memories for me to abandon it.

When I got to the bookstore, Mary, my one and only employee, had beaten me to the store and already had it open. I found her writing on the new release board before she focused my attention to a new addition to the coming soon display on the wall next to her.

It was the release date of my newest book. It was only the second that I had been able to get published. The first had been the memoirs of my journey with Bella and it had moderate success, even if it hadn't made any national best seller lists. It had been released when Allyssa was only six months old and Bella and I once again climbed into the Journey for a road trip to do the book tour. But this time, we had our daughter with us.

I smiled at Mary, sat down at the table in the corner of the room, and started to do some ordering of supplies and reviewing other paperwork.

"Is Esme still coming to book club tonight?"

"I think so." She had missed the last one insisting that she would be the one to stay with Bethie, who was having one of her bad days. Mary was the mayor's wife and had been a homemaker since the day that she got married. It was right after the twins were born that her last child had left home to go to college in the big city and she decided that she didn't want to sit around home anymore, so I offered her a part time job. She had a business degree and helped me out a lot with that end of the store. And it left me more time to be with my family. She was also very close friends with my mother, seeing as they were about the same age. About every month or two, they would take a shopping trip up to New York together, just the two of them. It was also an excuse for Mom to see Alice too. Not to mention, they always drove through Boston so she could see Emmett too. It was wonderful to see my mother so happy again. Those first couple of years after Dad died was very hard on her.

We had a moderately busy morning with mothers coming in to grab some books and enjoy a chat among friends now that the kids were back in school and they could hold conversations without interruptions. I had a corner of the store set up with easy chairs for this reason.

I was quite surprised when Mom and Bella showed up with the twins at noon for lunch. Bella only had a couple of morning classes and Mom had spent the morning making arts and crafts and they twins had each made me a card just to say that they loved me.

After a quick lunch at the café across the street from the bookstore Bella took the twins home. Mom took off with Mary for a quiet afternoon of whatever trouble those two could find to get into. This was our life together. We had come to terms with everything that had happened in the past, and that is where it all stayed, in the past. My relationship with my mother was stronger than ever since she moved in. Who would have thought that we'd be this close just a few years ago? It just goes to show you that people can change and people can forgive. We just can't forget the past, it makes us who we are.

Tonight, there would be an excited five-year-old waiting on the porch for me to get home from work so she could tell me all about her first day of school. She would go on and on about her teacher, her desk, and all of her friends. In a couple of years, I would have to go through the same thing with the twins and all too soon, I would have to let them go on their own into the world. I just prayed that they would find the love and happiness that I did with their mother.

A/N:

There are a few changes to this outtake from what I submitted to the compilations but nothing major. I am working on the first epilogue and hope to post in the next week or two. Then there will be a second epi set further into the future.


	36. epilogue

FYH Epilogue

I Followed My Heart

Thirteenish years later:

EPOV:

"I still say the irony of her decision is incredible." I yelled to my wife from the bedroom when I heard her step out of the shower.

"I know. I know," my wife laughed, "Your father would have been so thrilled."

Our oldest daughter, Allyssa, was graduating from Ogunquit High School today. In a couple of months, she would be off to New Hampshire for college. That is where the irony comes in; she is off to Dartmouth to study medicine. My father was finally getting the doctor in the family that he always wanted. It broke everyone's heart that he wasn't here to enjoy it. The family never really got over losing Dad. There would always the feeling that something was missing at every family get together or holiday.

Our whole family had arrived in town the other day. It wasn't unusual for us to get together in one of the three towns we lived in. Most often, it was New York. We always spent Thanksgiving there. There was nothing like actually watching the Macy's parade pass by from the balcony of Alice and Jaspers apartment. The women of the family also loved hit the Black Friday sales of New York better than Boston and there was no such thing as a Black Friday sale in Ogunquit. We also had a huge group of friends and family here from Forks as well.

Bella walked out of the bathroom wrapped in nothing but her towel. After all these years, she was still just as beautiful and sexy as she was the day we met. She would always be the beautiful to me.

Bella stood in front of her mirror, the smirk on her face said that she knew I was watching her. She opened her towel and let it drop to the floor effectively getting my attention away from the knot I was trying to form with my tie. I had just started to walk toward my wife when a shrill scream came from downstairs. I groaned knowing that it was Bethie. I would lay odds that Ben had stolen her cell phone again and was sending text messages to her boyfriend. I really detested that boy she was dating. Bella said that I was being absolutely ridiculous because he was such a good boy. HA! There was no such thing as a good teenage boy. They all had only one thing on their minds. But my wife forbade me from forbidding my daughters to date. Traitor.

Bella rolled her eyes, grabbed her robe off the bed, pulled it on, and went to handle the kids. With the mood I was in today, I was bound to confiscate the damn phone in an attempt to keep her from talking to that boy.

Bella returned a few minutes later announcing that Ben had indeed taken Beth's phone. He had sent a text to Matthew saying she was breaking up with him and never wanted to talk to him again. At least my son was on my side on this. I might have to buy him a new car if he continued to help me get rid of the boy.

I watched as Bella went to take her robe off again. I had just started to walk toward her with the intent of completely stop her efforts to get dressed when, again, we were interrupted when someone had to start knocking on the front door. Damn it! From the sound of the hard pounding, it had to be Emmett and his family.

He and Rose still owned and worked in their auto shop. Their daughter, Brianna had just finished her first year of College. She had originally planned to attend the University of Texas but changed her plans and opted to stay in Boston and go to the local university after Emmett and Rose dropped a huge bombshell on us on the fourth of July. Once she found out her mother was two months pregnant there was no talking her out of staying close to home. Rose and Emmett had tried for years to have another baby but it had never happened for them. They were happy with the daughter they did have and never really stressed over it. They just figured that God was only going to bless them with Brianna. Like I said, once she found out that she was finally getting the sibling she had wanted, there was nothing more important to her than her to be a part of her little sister's life. Rose gave birth little Megan on the first of March. I could not imagine having to start over at the beginning again. A part of me was happy that my kids were nearly adults and I would soon have my wife completely to myself again.

One of the kids had answered the door by the time I made it downstairs. I grabbed my baby niece away from my sister in law and took off with her. As much as I was looking forward to being alone with my wife, I did miss my kids being this small. It seemed like just yesterday Bella was pregnant will Lyssa. Man, I loved my wife being pregnant. The nights I laid awake in bed with my hand on her stomach feeling the babies move and kick while she slept were some of my favorite memories. That was really cool when she was pregnant with the twins. I don't think I got much sleep during that pregnancy. I would lay there for hours watching while one of them stuck out an elbow while the other, a foot. I have a picture where you could see all four of their feet protruding at once. I will never understand how Bella could sleep right through something like that! The best thing about nieces, however, was that you could hand her back when they got stinky.

Jacob and his family arrived shortly after my brother did. Bella and I did end up returning to Forks for a summer several years ago so I could interview Billy and other members of the Quileute tribe for a series of books about their legends and one very memorable book about Billy's life specifically. After that, we started spending time in Forks every summer. I think it really unnerved Bella that Jacob and I became close friends. It was after he married a wonderful woman, Vanessa, and started having children that Jacob and Bella came to an understanding about their past. He even apologized for the way that he had treated her. I laughed when Bella told me that he said it came from looking at his baby girl and it dawning on him that he would kill anyone who would dare disrespect her like he had Bella. It was more proof that people can change if they have the right motivation. Billy passed away two years after I published the book about him, exactly one month after his first grandchild was born. I have a copy of the picture of him holding baby Sarah in my office with all of my other family pictures.

Mom having arrived with Emmett went to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee. She had moved out of our home a couple years ago when Mary's husband was diagnosed with cancer. By the time they caught it there wasn't much that could be done besides make him comfortable. It was such a comfort for Mary to have mom living with her and helping her cope with caring for her dying husband. He died only a few months after the diagnoses. He was a good man and the whole town still missed him. It made me wonder if anyone at the hospital Dad worked at ever thought about him and missed him. Emmett and Alice both said they believed they did and never wanted to think or know anything different.

These days Mom spent most of her time traveling. Her favorite is to take cruises with Mary. I was fine with all of her traveling and was happy to see mom-enjoying life until she came home from a cruise and announced that she met a man and was planning to visit him soon. Alice and I threw some toddler worthy fits until Emmett put his foot down and told us to grow up. She didn't deserve to spend her life as a lonely widow. I was forced to admit after meeting him that he wasn't that bad…for a lawyer. I know that Mom cares about him a lot but she has made it clear that she has no interest in getting married again. She had been truly happy with Dad and could not see herself making that commitment to anyone else. That I could completely understand.

BPOV:

I came downstairs to find my husband feeding our baby niece a bottle. After growing in such a small family, I cherished times like this, where our whole family was surrounding us. I never would have believed that I would count Jacob Black as part of that family but I did. In the short time that Edward had known Billy, he grew to love and admire the man just as much as anyone else that knew him had. Billy's death affected both of us greatly. It was, for both of us, like burying our fathers again.

Angela and Ben arrived just as I entered the kitchen to get a cup of coffee to go with the pastries Emmett had brought with him. Their three boys came in behind them. Their middle son, Tyler, had always been close to Jacob's daughter Sarah since they were both the same age, took off running in search of her. They hated that they could not go to school together and see each other more often, but Tyler lived in Forks where Angela and Ben ran the sporting goods store for me and Sarah lived on the reservation where Jacob had taken over as elder in his father's place.

Alice and Jasper were always the last to arrive anywhere. Poor Jasper, for having adopted they could not have found three girls more like Alice if they tried. They were the sweetest little things especially given their beginnings. They came to Alice and Jasper after their mother was arrested for drugs and prostitution. They had been found in her apartment alone with no food and none of them even owned a pair of shoes. Alice had been horrified when she found out that and the fact the oldest two, Maria, who was seven and Lucy, who was five had never been enrolled in school. The youngest, Nettie, was only three at the time and we believe that there are times that she can't even remember the life that she escaped. It was only about a month after they took the girls in that the mother overdosed on heroin. There was never a question about what would happen to the girls after that. They were Alice and Jasper's daughters from the moment they walked into their lives. With Alice, the four of them had Jasper wrapped around their little fingers. Their social worker was thrilled when they requested to start the adoption process. It was hard enough for social workers to try to keep siblings together in foster home settings let alone find people that are willing to adopt three siblings together. That was two years ago and the adoption became final six months ago. We had a huge party to celebrate in New York.

They still had not arrived by the time I had to leave for the high school. As the principal of the elementary school and a member of the school board I had to arrive early to help set up and to be there when the graduates arrived to help organize them. There were only about a hundred kids graduating today and I think I knew every single one of them. Edward came to find me when he finally got the whole family rounded up and got them here. He was still so handsome to me and I loved him just as much as I did the night I met him. He waited by my side as I made sure all the graduates were ready to march. This was hard on Edward as well. He had watched most of these kids grow up coming into his bookstore and being a part of his reading groups. After congratulating and hugging the majority of the senior class, my husband escorted me back to our seats.

I started tearing up when the graduates marched out to take their seats and I started outright crying when they called out my daughter's name and she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. Edward put his arm around me and held me close to him.

After the ceremony was over, we made our way back home where we were going to have a BBQ. That was how Lyssa wanted to celebrate with the family. As soon as we were back at the house, everyone changed out of their good clothes into play clothes. Edward and Jacob fired up the grill while Rose and I did last minute prep in the kitchen and Esme rocked baby Megan. Everyone else started a game of baseball.

I stood at the kitchen window watching my family laugh and play. I was so mesmerized by the scene in my backyard I didn't even know Edward had come into the house until he wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck. I sighed, closed my eyes, and leaned back into him. There was a point in my life where I thought I was going to be alone forever, with no family. A leap of family by approaching a handsome stranger in a bar had proved me wrong. Our family was the best gift that Edward had ever given me.

A/N:

Merry Christmas! I didn't put the end because we have what I am calling a short epi outtake left plus several outtakes left. The epi outtake should be up next weekend. I already have it outlined in my head. Here is what I am offering, if you have an idea for an outtake let me know, it can be a whole chapter idea or something that only lasts a scene because I am gathering ideas for a chapter that includes various small scenes. I have some daddyward ideas I want to explore.


	37. Chapter 37

FYH Epilogue Outtake

Ten Years Later

I brought my daughter the glass of milk that she'd asked for and laughed to myself to see that she had fallen asleep in the few minutes that I had been gone. She had moved back home about six months ago when she found out she was pregnant. She had just finished her residency and had accepted an offer to come back to Maine to work in the hospital here.

Bella and I had wanted her to move in with us permanently but she had refused. She was determined to do this on her own. I mean totally on her own as the father of the baby was not going to be in my grandchild's life at all. Lyssa had refused to tell us his name. I found out later from my wife, that Lyssa didn't really know who the guy was. He was just some random guy she'd met at a bar. I still wanted to find the guy and beat him until he was dead.

We managed to convince her to stay with us for the last month of her pregnancy and for first few weeks after the baby was born. I was all in favor of my daughters' being independent, but there were limits to that. There were definite limits when the health of my daughter or her child, my first grandchild, was at stake. Not that she had had anything less than a perfect pregnancy so far. But it only took a split second for things to go bad.

We still had two weeks to go to the due date, which was good because Bella had to take off for Chicago, where Bethie was living, to deal with the bomb that she dropped on us last week. She was had moved in with the guy that she had been dating for a month. Oh, maybe I should mention that he was one of her professors, older than me by five years, was in the middle of a divorce and this was the first we had heard about her dating him? Out of the two of us, Bella decided that she could be more reasonable and open minded with the situation. Bethie was still my baby girl and there was no way I was going to let some slime ball take advantage of her. She also had Ben coming up from San Antonio to help her. I tell you, I am starting to miss that little twerp that she dated in high school. I knew it was a bit hypercritical of us but Bethie had always been a bit of naïve and trusting. Bella assured me that she would make sure that our daughter was happy and safe before she left her there.

I sighed, covered Lyssa up with the blanket off the back of the couch and returned to my home office to work on my current manuscript. It wasn't the book I wanted to write. I really wanted to write a horror story where a deranged father goes after every guy that came near his daughters with a meat cleaver and castrated them. Emmett and Jasper volunteer to help me write it. Having daughters themselves, they knew exactly where I was coming from. Our wives told us that we were _not_ allowed to write that story.

I had been working for a couple hours when I heard Lyssa calling for me, "Dad! I think its time!"

As soon as we got to the hospital, I left the room while they examined Lyssa to call my wife and let her know that our first grandchild was about to be born. I got her voicemail so I tried Ben's.

"Hey Dad! What's up?"

"Your sister is in labor and I can't reach your mom. You need to catch the next flight out of Chicago."

"Damn! She just went to lunch with Bethie. I'll see if Alex knows where Beth would have wanted to go."

"You mean you haven't killed him and stuffed his body in a dumpster in the alley for me yet?"

"No, dad," he laughed, "He's actually pretty cool."

"I doubt that."

"Dad, we both know that you believe no guy is ever going to good enough for Beth and Lyssa."

OR my son, I thought as I hung up the phone and returned my daughter's room. Ben was living with in New Orleans with his longtime boyfriend, Ethan. They met when Ethan's brother, Kyle, who was in a classes with Ben, set them up on a blind date. Kyle was the first of their family to go to college. The rest of the family, including Ethan, was firemen. Or should I say firefighters as Ethan's sister, Karen followed in the family tradition.

Lyssa let out a scream when the next contraction hit and I found myself looking at my phone willing it to ring telling me that my wife was on her way. Bella was supposed to be here to be her coach. I could barely control myself when my wife was in labor let alone watching my daughter go through that pain. She was progressing quite fast, already at six so they were calling for the anesthesiologist to come give her an epidural.

Two hours later, I still had not heard back from Bella. I was getting worried about them and Lyssa getting closer and closer to giving birth. I was losing hope that Bella was going to get here in time to save me from having to be in here while my daughter gave birth. I knew that she would have preferred to have her mother here, but there was also no way that I was going to make her go through it alone. Even though there are just some medical procedures fathers should not be present for.

Before we knew it, the nurse was calling the doctor in. It wasn't the same doctor that delivered Lyssa. He had long since retired and his grandson had taken over his practice. The kid wasn't much older than my daughter. I was tempted to demand a doctor that was older and more experienced but then I remembered the Lyssa was a young surgeon and I kept my mouth shut.

In what seemed like a lifetime later, Abigail Marie Cullen was born. I followed her as the nurses whisked her away. It was like déjà vu of when Lyssa was born. Everything had gone perfectly.

After she was cleaned up, weighed, and measured the nurse handed her to me. She was perfect. She had unfortunately inherited my crazy hair. Bella had always found it astounding that all three of our children had managed to inherit my crazy hair and now my granddaughter was cursed with it.

As I carried my granddaughter over to place her in my daughter's arms I reveled in sight of the baby in my arms. This was my granddaughter. I was a grandpa. My gorgeous, sexy wife was a grandma. I would say that it was not possible but I was holding the proof in my arms. I would love her, guard her, and teach her just as much as I did my own children. I looked forward to the coming days when I would take my Abigail with me to the bookstore everyday just as I did with her mother. Yeah, my life would continue to be amazing.

A/N:

It is still 2011 here for another half hour so I finished this story by the end of the year. I am marking this complete and all future outtakes, regardless of POV, will be in the outtakes story. If anyone has an outtake request please let me know and I will see what I can do.

I want to thank everyone who read and/or reviewed. I count my success for this story not only by the review count, but also by the number of people who added the story to their alerts or favorites. You are all amazing and I loved hearing every single comment made to me on this story. I have another story in the works that I will begin to post soon. I love you all and have a happy and safe New Year.


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